The New British Sand-Grouse. 



207 



4f inches; filament beyond, 3^; length, of foot and middle 

 claw, 1 inch ; breadth of foot, half an inch ; gape, half an 

 inch. 



The general colour of the male is pale buff, the head 

 yellowish, the cheeks and throat rufous. The feathers of the 

 back are barred with black, the breast is greyish, bounded with 

 a belt of narrow black lines. A broad black patch, varying in 

 length in different individuals, occupies the centre of the under 

 surface. The sides and vent are whitish, the legs being of a 

 duller white. The wings are tinted with grey, black, buff, 

 and red brown. The tail feathers are barred and striped with 

 black and buff, and are broadly tipped with white, the fila- 

 ments of the tail and wing are black 



The female differs from the male in wanting the filaments 



Eight Foot. Right Foot. 



HEAD AND EIOHT FOOT OF STBEHAPXES PAEADOXITS. 



of the wing, in having the head yellow, streaked with black, 

 and the sides of the neck spotted with black. The black bars 

 of the back are smaller and more numerous, and the yellow 

 colour of the throat is separated by a narrow black band from 

 the breast, which is grey.* 



The skeleton of the Syrrha/ptes is as remarkable as the 

 external form. Mr. W. K. Parker, who has made a very special 

 study of the osteology of birds, places the sand-grouse inter- 

 mediate between the true grouse and the pigeon, and considers 

 the Syrrhaptes the culmination of the Pterocline type of 



* A fine plate of the male, female, and egg is being prepared for publication 

 by Mr. Gould in the forthcoming part of his magnificent work, The Birds of 

 Great Britain. 



