THE GAME BIRDS OF INDIA, BURMA AND CEYLON. 7 



presented by Hodgson, and it has been procured near Lucknow 

 and again a little further East and South near Allahabad. To 

 the North-East it has been obtained both in Kashmir and Gilgit, 

 in the former by Major Stone and in the latter State by Colonel 

 Biddulph. 



According to Jerdon, Col. Chesney found this species extremely 

 common in Arabia, but Hume discredits the accuracy of this record 

 on the grounds that, Zoologically, Turkish Arabia, or Mesopotamia 

 is more nearly allied to North-East Africa than to Europe or Asia. 



The Imperial Sand-Grouse has, however, been obtained from the 

 Saiar Mountains in the extreme South of Palestine by St. George 

 Littledale and it, apparently, is found thence Northwards and 

 Eastwards through Palestine, Aleppo and Diarbekir in Kurdistan, 

 so that its occurrence, on migration if at no other time, in Meso- 

 potamia would seem to be extremely likely. 



The Large or Black-bellied Sand-Grouse is only a winter visitor 

 to India, its arrival and departure being much influenced, 

 according to Hume and others, by the state of the weather, great 

 heat delaying its arrival and accelerating its departure. They 

 generally arrive within Indian limits, i.e., the extreme North -West 

 of the Punjab and Sind, in the first week of October or, in early 

 years, a few flights may be seen in the last few days of September. 

 They, however, do not seem to work their way further South and 

 East at all fast, as I am informed that they are seldom seen in 

 Cutch until the end of the former month, whilst they do not reach 

 South Rajputana, Central India, Sindia and the West of the 

 United Provinces until well on in November. These last men- 

 tioned parts of India they leave again in the latter part of Febru- 

 ary and by the end of March but few will be found anywhere, 

 though a few stay on in unusually cold winters as late as the 

 beginning, or middle, of April. 



Within its favourite haunts, i.e., all round the extreme North- 

 East of the Indian habitat this bird is extremely numerous and 

 may often be seen in hundreds and sometimes in thousands. 

 Hume, on one occasion in Jodhpore, came upon a group of these 

 birds, which he estimated to contain fully two thousand birds, 

 which were packed together in a mass not more than thirty yards 

 long by about ten wide and so densely were they lying that, 

 though he could not get within 80 yards of them, he dropped 

 three birds by firing into the mass as they rose. 



The same author narrates how when driving between Fazilka 

 and Ferozepur he saw, during the 15 miles' drive, over 100 ijaclcs 

 of these birds crossing the road, these packs varying from four or 

 five in number to nearly a hundred. 



They keep very much to the larger sandy waste or plains so 

 numerous in this part of India, and though they prefer such as are 



