GALLINACEOUS BIRDS. 



177 



cheeks, and wing-covers, and overspread with a bright greenish gloss upon the back ; the deep reddish- 

 brown lower breast and belly are divided from the upper portion of the plumage by a narrow black 

 line, which commences at the sides of the throat, and passes across the breast ; the lower tail-covers 

 and feathered tarsi are cream-colour, the small feathers of the wing-covers have a line of reddish 

 brown at the tip, the primary quills are black, all except the three outermost having the tip and 

 inner web white ; the very long, slender, and sharply-pointed centre pair of tail-feathers are of a 

 yellowish shade, and those at the exterior dark brown, spotted and striped with a paler tint. The 

 eye is dark brown, the bare circle that surrounds it lemon-yellow ; the beak and toes are lead-grey. 



THE COMMON SAND GROUSE (Pterochs exiistus). 



This species is thirteen inches long and twenty-three broad, the wing measures seven and a half, and 

 the tail from five and a half to six inches. The markings upon the back of the female are darker than 

 in the plumage of the male bird ; the head, nape, and throat are greyish, darkly spotted ; the breast 

 band is paler, the belly striped black and brown. The centre tail-feathers are only a trifle longer than 

 the rest. 



" This," -svrites Jerdon, " is the most common and abundant species of Sand Grouse throughout 

 India, being found in every part of the country except the more wooded portions, and never occurring 

 in forest districts. It is therefore quite unknown in Malabar, in the wooded districts of Central India, 

 and in Lower Bengal, and neither this, nor either of the previous species, as far as is known, occur 

 to the eastwards, in Assam, Sylhet, or Burmah. Out of India, it is common through great part of 

 Central and Western Asia and Northern Africa, and, it is stated, has been met with, though rarely, in 

 VOL. III. — 102 



