188 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXIII. 



" According to Mr. Dodson, the male of this species, when nesting 

 brings water to its female, and both parents give their yoiing drink 

 iintil they are able to fly." 



Whittaker also says " it appears to be a late breeder, the clutch 

 of three eggs here described having been taken by Mr. Dodson on 

 July the 17th. These eggs are less glossy than those of P. 

 arenarius and of a stone or buif colour, with very faint lilac-grey 

 shell marks, and more distinct yellowish-brown surface blotches. 

 They measure 41 x 27mm." 



The other eggs of which I now have record are, three laid in con- 

 finement at Giza; two clutches of three from Sind, one in the 

 possession of Mr. H. E. Dresser and one in that of the Eev. F. C. K. 

 Jourdain ; one egg from Mesopotamia and one oviduct egg taken by 

 Dr. Hartert in Algeria, now in the Tring Museum ; one egg taken 

 by Blanford ; Bulkley's two eggs now in my collection and a third 

 oviduct egg sent me by a friend, and finally two oviduct eggs in the 

 collection of Mr. J. Davidson. 



We have, therefore, 20 absolutely authentic eggs of this species 

 in addition to two other clutches taken by A. G. Tomlinson in the 

 Bussorah district, Persian Gulf, about which I do not think there is 

 any doubt. We can give a fairlj^ general description of them, but 

 before doing so it will be as well to go into some details of the 

 different clutches. 



Major R. Sparrow has been good enough to forward to me three 

 eggs, from his collection, which were laid by captive birds in the 

 Giza Zoological Gardens, Cairo, in June 1910. 



In colour these eggs are a buff stone coloiir or pale creamy cafe'- 

 au-lait, and they are marked all over with blotches, spots and 

 specks of pale, rather reddish brown and with a few spots and specks, 

 but no big blotches of very dark umber brown, in one or two 

 cases almost black. The paler markings are very irregular in shape, 

 here and there becoming broad irregular lines rather than blotches 

 and in others looking more like accidental smears than anything 

 else. The secondary markings are of pale brown, very washed out 

 and ill defined, and pale lavender grey. 



The texture is fine and the surface smooth, though there is very 



little gloss, but this may be due to the fact that eggs were evidently 



very hard set when blown. They are of the usual Sand-Grouse 



elliptical shape and measure 1-62" x 1-13" ; 1-60" x M2" ; 1-66" 



X 1-09" ; (41-3 X 28-6 ; 40-05 x 28-4 ; 39-6 x 27-6mm.). 



Mr. F. C. R. Jourdain has also kindly sent me two out of a clutch 

 of three eggs taken at Kotri in Sind on 16th May 1895 by Mac- 

 donald or Pearson? These agree well with the above in every 

 respect and measure 1-66" x 1-12" and 1-65" x 1-11" (42 x 28*5 and 

 41-4 x 28-2 mm.). The measurement of the third, Mr. Jourdain 

 tells me, is 42-6 x 28*5 mm. These eggs are even more minutely 



