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SAND PTEROCLES. 
gular patch of black, bordered on its upper part 
with a broad band of chesniit-colour, which reaches 
to the base of the under jaw, and passes beneath 
the eyes and ears to the nape : the head, the neck, 
and the breast, are of an ash-colour, tinged with 
rufous : a broad bar of black passes over the breast 
from the insertion of the wings on either side : the 
belly, the sides, the thighs, and the abdomen, are 
of a deep black : the under tail-coverts are also 
black, with their tips white : the back and the 
whole of the wing-coverts are reddish-yellow ; the 
middle of the feathers being deepest, and their 
edges ochrey yellow : quills brownish, with an ob- 
lique dirty-white spot at their base ; the secondaries 
ash-coloured, bordered and tipped with yellowish : 
the tail, which is greatly wedge-shaped, is deep 
ash above, with dusky bars, and the whole of the 
feathers, except the two middle ones, are tipped 
with white : the under part of the tail is black, 
tipped with white : the feathers on the tarsi are 
whitish yellow : the beak is bluish : the hinder 
part of the tarsi and the toes are deep yellow. 
The female is less, and her colours more dull ; 
the grey on the neck being flat, and the black, on 
the under parts of the body, brownish : the band 
on the breast is also very small. 
This species is found in the neighbourhood of 
the Caspian Sea, frequenting the sandy deserts : 
during the summer it is abundant near Astrakan, 
but it winters in Persia. Burlu-chuduk appears to 
be the favourite resort of these birds, on account 
of its sandy fountains, as they drink a great deal. 
