69 [Vol. xlii. 



Fraseria cinerascens guineaB, subsp. nov. 



Adult male. Distinguished from F. c. cinerascens by the 

 paler colouring of the upper parts, which are uniform 

 throughout, the head not darker than the back as in F. c. 

 cinerascens. The feathers of the breast are less distinctly 

 edged with grey, and the throat is more uniform white. The 

 white patch above the lores is very pronounced. 



Bill 74 ; wing 81 ; tail 62; tarsus 19 mm. 



Mange. Portuguese Guinea. 



Type. In the British Museum. Brit. Mus. Reg. No. 

 1910. 5. 6. 516. c? ad', Grunnal, Portuguese Guinea, 30 May, 

 1909. W. J. Ansorge coll. 



Sand-Gkousb. 



In reply to a question asked by CoL Meinertzhagen on 

 behalf of Mr. P. A. Buxton on December 14th, 1921, as to 

 whether there was any direct evidence to show that water is 

 carried to the young in the feathers, or is it a myth ?y 

 Mr. Meade-Waldo made the following statement : — 



This habit was first described by me in ' The Zoologist ' of 

 1896, p. 299, and has been more fnlly described in 'The 

 Field ' and in various papers in the ' Avicultural Magazine ' ; 

 but, for the benefit of any who may not have read it^ I looked 

 through my notes and find that between the years 1895 and 

 1915 sixty-one broods of Sand-Grouse were hatched in our 

 aviaries. Almost all the eggs laid were fertile and hatched, 

 and about two-thirds of the young were reared. The Sand- 

 Grouse were of three species — Pterocles alchatus, P. exustus, 

 and P. arenarius. The great majority were of the first 

 species, only seven broods of P. exustus and three broods of 

 P. arenarius being reared. The breeding-habits of all three 

 species were precisely similar. The female sitting by day 

 and the male by night, incubation lasted about 23 days^ 

 but was influenced by the weather — in very hot weather 

 P. exustus hatching in 17 days on one occasion. The young- 

 are carefully attended by both parents, but are strong and 

 feed themselves from the first. Water is conveved to the 

 young in the following curious manner, by the male only. 



