ORDER GALLIN/E. 2-39 



The females lay but four or five eggs at most, of rather an 

 olive-green, marked with a great number of black spots. 

 They are granivorous and insectivorous. 



This ganga lives in the entire of South Africa, and is pro- 

 bably the same species which visits the banks of the Niger 

 and the Gambia. It passes into those countries when the 

 sources and torrents which descend from the mountains are 

 dried up in the deserts. In summer, it is found in the terri- 

 tories of Senegal. 



It is in the sandy plains of the southern part of the vast 

 empire of Russia, as well as in the deserts which extend to 

 the north of Africa, that the Sand Grous {Pterocles Are- 

 narius), abound most. Pallas, who discovered the species 

 towards the sterile territory of Astracan, and on the banks of 

 the Volga, says, that during the day they are to be seen 

 advancing in couples to the water, and that they fly like 

 pigeons. Though, properly speaking, this ganga is not a 

 native of Europe, it would appear that it sometimes passes 

 the limits which nature has assigned, and migrates from the 

 African coast across the Mediterranean into the southern pro- 

 vinces of Spain. From the deserts of Asia too it sometimes, 

 though more rarely, extends its voyages into Germany. In 

 the burning regions of Africa, where alimentary resources 

 must often fail, the species is constantly of an inferior size ; 

 while the individuals killed in the fertile provinces of Spain 

 are of larger dimensions, their plumage is finer, and their 

 colours are more lively. Such differences are common with all 

 animals, but more particularly with those that feed on vege- 

 tables and seeds. This observation is applicable to many 

 species of the gallinas, and to a great number of other exotic 

 and indigenous birds. It is particularly true of those that 

 live in the desert plains of the south of Africa, compared 

 with individuals of the same species, but inhabiting a more 



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