THE GAME BIRDS OF INDIA, BURMA AND CEYLON. 7 



from here it extends throughout the Punjab, having been found in 

 Ludhiana, and Delhi in the extreme East. To the South, Hume 

 obtained it as far South as Sambhar in Rajputana, and I have 

 notices of its occurrence from Jodhpur and Bikanir, and Major 

 C. G. Nurse, in 1902, recorded it from Deesa still further South 

 than it had been previously obtained. This last bird was shot by- 

 Captain L. Oldfield, R. F. A., who obtained one specimen out of a 

 flock of 20 or 25 birds. 



When in India it assembles in enormous flocks, literally in 

 thousands, and in the more Eastern portion of its habitat this 

 seems to be generally the case, indeed some people consider this 

 Sand-Grouse to have been the Quail provided for the Israelites ; 

 further West, however, it does not seem to collect in nearly such 

 large flocks. 



Hume is the only writer who has given us an account of this 

 bird's habits in India and his remarks are to the following efiect. 

 " I have seen very little of this species myself, and only on a vast 

 plain some miles from Hoti Mardan, where during the winter, they 

 were in tens of thousands. This plain is partly barren, partly 

 fallow, and partly cultivated with wheat, mustard, and the like. 

 It was : only on the barren and fallow land that I saw them. They 

 are extremely wary, and it was only by creeping up a nala or small 

 ravine that it was possible to get within even a long shot at them. 

 Their flight is extremely rapid and powerful, to me it seemed more 

 so than of any of their congeners. 



" They are very noisy birds, and whether seated or flying, 

 continually utter their peculiar cry, which, though somewhat of the 

 same character as that of arenarius, is unmistakably distinct from 

 the call note of any of the other species. 



" Those I shot, and, according to their account, most of the large 

 .series previously shot by my collectors, had fed entirely on green 

 leaves, seeds, small pulse, and grain of diflerent kinds. The 

 gizzards contained quantities of small stones. There were several 

 pools and places where the rain floods had not quite dried up, on 

 the plain I have referred to, and the birds seemed to sit about 

 much in their immediate neighbourhood. 



" One or two of my birds were very fat, so much so that it was 

 difiicult to skin them, but as a rule, when cooked they were as dry 

 and tasteless as the rest of the Sand-Grouse. 



" I was told that they were occasionally hawked with Shaheens, 

 but their flight is so rapid and powerful that I should doubt much 

 sport being obtained this way. I was also told that they could be 

 shot by working a couple of Peregrines over them, when they 

 allow a very close approach and almost refuse to rise." 

 • This account agrees well with Whitaker's account of these birds 

 in Tunis as seen by him at one of their favourite watering places. 



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