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Numbers, however, were shot with matchlocks. When on the ground they were rather shy and 

 difficult of approach ; but on the wing they would sometimes dart within a few yards of you. 

 They possess rather a melodious chuckle, the only note that I have heard them utter. The 

 natives say that, during the summer, they are found abundantly in the great plains of Tartary 

 beyond the Great Wall, where they breed in the sand." Some most interesting notes respecting 

 the occurrence of the present species in Mongolia and on its habits have been lately published by 

 Colonel Prjevalsky. This gentleman says that the pi'esent species is one of the most charac- 

 teristic birds of Mongolia, inhabiting not only the steppes, but the true desert. In summer it 

 ranges north beyond Lake Baikal, and breeds there ; but it winters in the Gobi desert, in places 

 which are bare of snow, and in Alashan, where he constantly met with them from the middle of 

 October, sometimes in flocks of several thousand individuals. These enormous flocks feed 

 principally on the seeds of Agriofliyllum gobicum ; so that the number of those that remain 

 there to winter depends greatly on the crop of these seeds ; but they occasionally feed also on 

 other seeds and berries. In the early morning about sunrise they leave their roosting-places and 

 start for the desert in search of food, flying very low, forming a long line. They fly with great 

 swiftness, and make a peculiar sound with their wings, so that one can hear a large flock at a 

 great distance, the noise made somewhat resembling the whistling of the wind. When flying, the 

 male frequently utters a peculiar note, somewhat resembling the syllables truck-turuck, truck- 

 turuck ; but he observed that when packed in large flocks the males do not call, but only when 

 a few individuals are flying together. Occasionally these small flocks rise high into the air, 

 single individuals now and again swooping down to the ground to rise again and rejoin the rest, 

 as Rooks do when on passage. When feeding, the entire flock settles down, and after forming a 

 line the birds run forward slowly and clumsily, taking very short steps and waddling from side 

 to side. The tracks which they make in the sand resemble those of small mammals, and cover 

 the sandy deserts of Alashan. After their morning feed they leave to drink, visiting some small 

 pool or salt lake ; but they prefer the fresh to the salt water. At their drinking-places as well as 

 their feeding-places, before they settle down, they describe a circle in the air, so as to be assured 

 that there is no danger. They drink very quickly, and rise again at once ; so that when the flocks 

 are large those in front fly up before the birds in the rear have time to alight. They have 

 favourite drinking-places, and will traverse many miles to visit them, especially between nine 

 and ten o'clock in the forenoon ; but after noon they seldom visit these places. Mr. Prjevalsky 

 also met with some wintering in the Hoangho valley and throughout South-eastern Mongolia, as 

 also near Kalgan ; but when the frost is severe or much snow falls these birds appear in the 

 vicinity of Peking and Tien-tsin, but leave again for South-eastern Mongolia directly mild 

 weather sets in. On the whole these birds wander more in the winter than they do in the 

 summer, probably to obtain warmth. In the spring a portion leave for Northern Mongolia and 

 Lake-Baikal basin, whilst the rest remain to breed at their old winter quarters. 



Pallas's Sand-Grouse does not construct any nest, but the eggs are deposited on the sand, 

 sometimes without any hole being scratched in the ground, but at others a few grass-bents are 

 made use of to line the nest. Early in June Mr. Prjevalsky found three nests in Alashan, each 

 of which contained three eggs: one clutch was quite fresh ; but the other two were much 

 incubated. The female does not sit closely, but leaves her eggs if any one approaches to within 



