176 



CASSELLS BOOK OF BIRDS. 



rocks in Central and Western Asia, Northern Africa, and the south of Europe, laying four or five eggs 

 of a reddish grey colour, with brownish spots. We are told that it swarms in countless hosts in 

 Palestine, and Mr. Bl}'th believes, with justice, that this bird, rather than the Coturnix communis, 

 is the " Quail " of the Israelites. Colonel Chesney, indeed, writes of it as " a kind of Quail about 

 the size of a Pigeon, which at times literally darkens the air with its numbers ;" and Burckhardt tells 

 us that the number of Khatas in the stony district beyond the Jordan is beyond description ; the 

 whole plain seems sometimes to rise and fly off in the air in masses, that appear like large moving 

 clouds. In the mountains of Edom they so abound that two or three are often killed at a time by a 





THE KHATA {Pterocles alchala). 



stick thrown among them by the Arab boys. At some seasons of the year an ass-load may be taken 

 at one shutting of the clasp-net. " This species," according to Tristram, " abounds in the central and 

 southern districts of the Great Sahara, and in wnter may be seen in packs or in large flocks. There 

 is scarcely," he observes, " a bird in nature which surpasses the male Pterodcs alchata in softness of 

 colouring or delicacy of pencilling. Alas !" he adds, "that such handsome plumage should clothe 

 such very dry bones. Their flesh being black and hard, is never seen at the table of the Franks, but 

 is nevertheless eaten by the Turks. The Khata lays two or three eggs at a time, merely placing them 

 on the ground. In size they resemble those of a Pigeon, and have a greenish black shell. The Arabs 

 eat them fried in butter." 



THE COMMON SAND GROUSE. 

 The Common Sand Grouse, or Rock Pigeon of India {Pterocles exusfus), the third species 

 of this group, is principally of a beautiful reddish cream-colour, shading into bright yellow on the face. 



