AVES. 421 



the watercourse, on their way to or from the water, 

 keeping only a few feet above the bushes and low trees ; 

 the noise of their wings being heard in the dusk before 

 the birds themselves appeared. Like all other Sand 

 Grouse, they are excellent eating, the flesh being rather 

 hard, but of delicious flavour : and our party used 

 generally to shoot a few each evening, not an easy 

 matter, for the great swiftness and power of wing 

 possessed by these birds rendered them. La the dusk 

 especially, by no means an easy shot. 



Pt. Lichtensteini appears entirely confined to the 

 tropical coast region. At some water in the Lebka 

 valley at Mohabar, only 2,000 feet above the sea, scarcely 

 any came to drink in the evening, and at higher 

 elevations none were met with. 



234. Pt. gutturalis, A. Smith. 



Smith, Zool. South Afr. Aves, pi. 3 and 31. — Riipp. Syst. Uebers. 

 No. 388. 



Iris deep brown. — This fine species was only seen in 

 two or three places on the highlands, and is probably 

 local, as it is only mentioned in RuppeU's lists from 

 Shoa, though Von Heugliu procured it near Adowa. I 

 shot a pair near Agula, drinking at about 5 o'clock in 

 the afternoon, and I also saw a few close to Antalo, 



Family NXJMIDJD^. 



235. Numida ptilorhyncha, Licht. 



JV. ptilorhyncha, Licht. teste Rijpp. Syst. Uebers, p. 102, t. xxxix. 



Iris brown ; wattles bright verdigris blue ; casque and 

 the bristles above the bill pale horny ; legs reddish, dusky. 



