AVES. 119 



272. TURTUH SUKATENSIS. 



Turtur suratensis (Gm.) ; Bidd. Ibis, 1881, p. 92; Scully, ibid. p. 585 ; Oates^ ed. Hume, Nests & Eggs 

 Ind. B. ii. p. 353 (1890). 



No. 100. Changligally, Murree, July 6, 1873. 

 No. 137. Ghari, July 7, 1873.—" Trilput." 

 No. 671. Leh, September 10, 1873. 



273. TUHTUH PULCHEATUS. 



Turtur vitticollis, Hodgs. ; Hume & Henders. Lahore to Yark. p. 274 (1873). 

 Nos. M6, 447. Chiliscambo, August 18, 1873. 

 No. 1683. South of IgMz Yar, May 18, 1874. 

 No. 1746. Yarkand, May 15-20, 1874. 



Colonel Biddulph shot this species at Dras and Sonamarg in July 1874. 



Order PTEROCLETES. 



Eamily PTEROCLID^. 



Genus SYRRHAPTES. 



274. Syhrhaptes tibetanus. 



Syrrhaptes tibetanus, Gould ; Hume & Henders. Lahore to Yark. p. 279 (1873) ; Prjev. in Rowley^s 

 Orn. Misc. ii. p. 384 (1877) ; Severtz. Ibis, 1883, p. 71. 



No. 772. Chagra, September 9, 1873. 



Nos. 797, 798, 799. Gogra, September 25, 1873. 



The following note has been sent by Colonel Biddulph : — " I first saw this Sand-Grouse 

 at Chagra, at an elevation of 15,000 feet, where it was common and tame. It was flying 

 about in flocks of from three to ten individuals, on the hillside above the camp. In getting 

 into the Changchenmo Valley again, at an elevation of about 15,000 feet, I saw a few, but did 

 not again notice any Sand-Grouse during our journey, except that I saw some flying overhead 

 in November, between Khushtagh and Oi-tograk (4000 feet) ; and until the day we left Yangi- 

 hissar, on March the 21st, and crossed a sandy plain (4000 feet) towards Ighiz Yar, I failed to 

 secure a specimen of that species. This may have been S. paradoxus.''^ 



It is probably to this species, and not to Pterocles arenarius, that the following note of 

 Dr. Scully's refers : — " While I was at Yarkand, I often heard of a bird called by the natives 

 ^BegMtah^^ which was said to inhabit sandy desert ground, and often gravelly steppes. It was 

 described as somewhat smaller than a Chicore, of a yellowish-brown colour, like the back of a 

 Turtle-Dove, and having the legs feathered and the three toes partially joined together. The 

 'Beghitak ' was said to breed in the country, and its blood was reputed a specific for con- 

 sumption. On the 5th August I first saw this bird near Besharik in open desert ground : two 

 birds rose a long way off" before I saw them on the ground, and, as it was after sunset, the only 

 points I learnt about them were that they were very wild, had long pointed wings, a powerful 

 flight, and made a clacking noise like tuJc, tuk, tuk, frequently repeated. 



