80 



twenty paces ; and when incubating they go to the drinking-places in large flocks, and leave their 

 eggs exposed to the weather during their absence. This species is very cautious and shy, even 

 though it is but little exposed to pursuit by man ; and though its plumage assimilates so closely 

 to the ground it frequents, it does not trust to concealment when exposed to danger, but 

 immediately seeks safety in flight long before one can approach within gunshot-range, and 

 seldom alights until it has traversed a considerable distance. Falco hendersoni is the only 

 Raptor that persecutes the Sand-Grouse ; and even this swift Falcon cannot always capture them. 

 Mr. Prjevalsky further adds that he observed the present species near Kokonor and Zaidam, but 

 never in Kansu or Northern Thibet. 



Dr. Radde appears to have been the first to publish correct information respecting the habits 



and nidification of the present species of Sand-Grouse ; and as I know of no full translation of his 



notes, I make no apology for translating them in extenso. This gentleman writes (Reis. im Siid. 



v. O. Sib. ii. p. 292) as follows : — " The nest is very simple, and resembles those of the other 



Sand-Grouse ; and several pairs usually breed in company. In the saline impregnated soil on 



the Tarei-nor, usually on the ground, which has been dry for years, a small hole about 5 inches 



in diameter is scratched out, and the edge is lined with a few salsola shoots and grasses ; but the 



latter are frequently wanting. The eggs are four in number. . . . Syrrhaptes does not winter 



regularly on the north-eastern edge of the elevated Gobi, except in very mild winters, but 



arrives so early and breeds so soon after severe seasons, that it is a perfect paradox in this 



respect. Probably after breeding a second time it shifts its habitat, and during the raw winter 



months straggles to the southern border of the Gobi, in the low spurs of the northern portion of 



the Himalaya range. On the 10th March, 1856, when at night the thermometer fell to 13° 



Reaum., and at midday rose to 2°, the first flock of the present species arrived at the Tarei-nor. 



They flew in close flocks like Plovers. In the spring these flocks are composed of four or six 



pairs, as the birds have then paired ; but in the autumn more than a hundred collect together in 



one flock. When on the wing they utter a very audible cry, from which their Mongol name 



(Njupterjun) is derived ; and the pairs fly close together. A male, shot on the 17th March (O. S.), 



had the testes as large as a cedar-nut ; and late in March eggs are to be found, for a female shot 



on the 30th March had an egg ready for exclusion in her ovary. This Sand-Grouse breeds 



twice, and sometimes three times in the season. On the 20th April I found fully formed 



young in three eggs in one nest ; and the next day I took two fresh eggs. On the 14th May 



I again found fresh eggs. The young are certainly able to shift for themselves when hatched, 



and in this respect assimilate to the Gallinae rather than to the Columbidae, which latter the 



present species in so many respects resembles. I first saw the young birds running after their 



mother on the 30th April. In the morning, especially in the spring, they visit the fresh water 



to drink regularly at the same hour. In April the time when they arrived was nine o'clock. 



Single pairs arrived from different directions, calling, and were answered by those which had 



already arrived, and which they then joined; and they stood on the edge of the water in a line, 



usually eight to twelve together : but they did not remain there long ; for they soon left to feed. 



They do not despise the young juicy shoots of the Salicornice, and regularly graze on these as the 



Bustard does on some of the grasses. In the spring I found the crop and stomach full of the 



seeds of the Salsola. During the summer they are fond of basking in the sun; and I then 



