Sand Grouse 



407 



nizes with the soil, sand, and stones among which they live. Although sup- 

 posed to be strictly monogamous, they are gregarious at all seasons, occurring 

 sometimes in flocks of immense size, though usually seen in small companies or 

 perhaps family parties. Their haunts are ordinarily at no great distance from 

 water, to which they repair with great regularity at morning and evening, some 

 being decidedly crepuscular, visiting the drinking places before dawn and after 

 dark. They are shy, wary birds at all times, but especially so when visiting the 

 water, and are said never to approach it without first surveying the ground for 

 possible danger. Although they are somewhat awkward on the ground, due 

 to their short legs and feet, they walk fairly well and manage to run with con- 

 siderable rapidity, but on the wing they enjoy a strong, rapid, and very noisy 

 flight. They all lie closely until flushed, and are very fond of basking in the 

 hot sun in slight hollows scratched out for the purpose in the sand. The cry of 

 the Sand Grouse is variously described as a piercing whistle, a twittering, or a 

 di- or tri-syllabic clucking, the nature of the notes differing more or less with the 

 various species; all cries are frequently uttered while on the wing. They are 

 more or less pugnacious birds among themselves, the males frequently engaging 

 in battle. The food consists of seeds, tender shoots, insects, and berries when 

 obtainable, and they make no nest, or at most a very slight one, depositing the 

 eggs, usually three in number, in a slight depression in the ground. The eggs 

 are peculiarly shaped, being equally rounded at both ends, and in color are gray 

 or greenish with double spotting of brown and reddish. Both parents take part 

 in incubation, but they are not very solicitous for the safety of the eggs, as they 

 are frequently left uncovered for some time while the sitting birds are away at 

 the drinking places or feeding. The young are covered with a richly colored 

 down, and are able to run about as soon as they leave the shell. Although 

 ranked as game birds, they are not very highly esteemed for this purpose, as the 

 flesh is hard and lacking in flavor. 



The first genus (Syrrhaptes), characterized by the absence of the hind toe, as 

 well as by the great elongation of the middle pair of tail-feathers, contains but 

 two species, both of eastern Asia. Of these Pallas's Sand Grouse (S. paradoxus], 

 a bird from twelve to fourteen and a half inches in length, may be known by the 

 buff, or yellowish gray, vermiculated upper parts, a large black abdominal 

 patch, rusty red throat, and a zone of white across the breast; the smaller female 

 lacks the pectoral zone of black and white and is duller throughout. This species 

 ranges from the Kirghis Steppes to central Asia, Mongolia, and northern China, 

 and is the species which, under the guidance of an erratic and wholly unex- 

 plained impulse, sometimes invades western Europe in great numbers. Such 

 incursions occurred notably in the years 1863 and 1888, a few even penetrating 

 as far as the British Islands, where several pairs nested, as well as on the sand- 

 hills of Holland, Jutland, and other localities, but the persecution was too great, 

 and they failed to establish themselves. When they may come again, or if ever, 

 or the causes which inaugurate the movements are wholly unknown. 



The other member of this genus is the Tibetan Pin-tailed Sand Grouse (S. 

 tibetanus], the largest of the family, reaching a length of nearly sixteen inches, 



