Genus SYRRHAPTES or SAND GROUSE. 



Type SYRRHAPTES PARADOXUS. 



Syrrhaptes of llliger (1811). — The birds comprising the 

 present genus form an important link with the Game Birds and 

 the Pigeons, and with the Game Birds and the Plovers. The 

 wings are very long and pointed ; the tail is cuneate, and the two 

 central rectrices are frequently much longer than the rest. The 

 tarsus is very short, and clothed with feathers often to the toes. 

 The bill is small and short, decurved from the base to the tip ; 

 nostrils basal and almost hidden by feathers. Three toes in 

 front ; hind toe small, and in some species absent ; soles of feet 

 rugose. 



This genus is composed of about sixteen species which are 

 confined to the Eastern Hemisphere, being inhabitants of the 

 southern Palsearctic, and the Ethiopian and Oriental regions. 

 One species is a nomadic visitor to the British Islands. 



The Sand Grouse are dwellers on salt plains and deserts. 

 They are birds of sustained and powerful flight, and progress on 

 the ground by running and walking with short, quick steps. 

 Their notes are said to be rather melodious. They subsist chiefly 

 on grain seeds and vegetable substances. Their nests are mere 

 depressions in the ground, and their eggs, usually three in 

 number, are double-spotted, and oval in form. Pairing habits 

 unknown. 



