426 APPENDIX. 
birds were extremely plentiful in August last, running about on the open ‘ pat,’ or 
among the stunted tamarisk bushes.” 
An egg of this species is figured on the third of the plates of eggs which follow 
this Appendix. 
THE CORONETTED SAND-GROUSE. (Vol. I, p. 57.)— 
I stupidly said that I could find mothing recorded of the habits of this species, 
when in reality years ago I had put the following on record :— 
‘*Sir William Merewether tells me that the flight and cry of P. coronatus are 
both quite different from those of all the other species. They have a curious flutter- 
ing flight, and appear often to hover in the air, especially before settling, and their 
cry is a twittering one.” 
Mr. Tufnell writes that he procured several specimens of this species when at 
Vitakri, in Beluchistan. 
The occasional range of this species within our limits is considerably more exten- 
sive than I suspected. Lieut. W. W. Lean writes to me, under date the 7th of 
October :— 
‘© Two males of the Coronetted Sand-Grouse were shot within three miles of this 
post, (Fort Jumrood, near the mouth of the Khyber Pass,) this morning by Dr. 
Julian Smith. The flock (some twenty in number) was first seen flying from the 
direction of the Khyber, uttering their peculiar cry. Suddenly they separated, pre- 
paratory to alighting along a nullah, which crosses a very stony plain, to drink. 
‘‘The largest of the two birds measures 12 inches in length and 23°25 in expanse, 
and weighs 23 rupees say 84 ozs. 
‘¢ The colouring of the plate is, as you say, defective. The occiput is really cinna- 
mon and not burnt sienna. The blue grey superciliary stripe forms a complete ring, 
a little white intervening between it and the eye. The orange of the plate should be 
more of a yellow ochre, which goes rather lower down than is shown in the plate, 
and is continued on across the back of the neck, thus forming a ring. The yellow 
tinge of the plate is replaced by stone grey or rather a mixture of cinnamon and 
grey stone, and the burnt sienna and sepia shades are replaced by stone and brown. 
‘“*The neck is not thick, but dove-like, in fact in shape exactly like that of the 
male Spotted Sand-Grouse as depicted in the plate. 
‘*T can only find small seeds and gravel in their crops.” 
Since I wrote Mr. H. E. Barnes found one or two nests of this species near Cha- 
man (South Afghanistan) ; they contained three (in one case very) hard set eggs, of 
the usual elongated cylindrical shape, one of which measured 1°5 by 1°00, 
One of these eggs, taken on the 27th of May, for which I am indebted to this 
gentleman, has a fine and compact shell, and a moderate amount of gloss; the ground 
colour is a pale creamy white, the markings, spots, moderate-sized blotches and streaks 
are, as usual, of two colours,—a pale, rather washed-out yellowish brown, and a very 
pale, almost sepia grey. This egg measures 1°63 by I'07, 
THE PAINTED SAND-GROUSE (Vol I., pp. 59, e¢ seq.)— 
I mentioned that this species extended to Mysore, but I had no details 
of its distribution. It would now appear that in the Province, as a whole, it is 
extremely rare, but that there are some few localities in which it is pretty abundant. 
Thus Major McInroy, than whom no sportsman is better acquainted with Mysore, 
as a whole, writes: ‘“ You mention that this species does extend to Mysore, but 
it is extremely rare there. The following are the only two instances in which I have 
met with it during five years of travelling inall parts of the province, whilst especially 
in the Chitaldroog District, the Common Sand-Grouse is in legions :— 
**23rd Fanuary 1879.—Two brace near Ramgherry, Hosdurga taluk, Chitaldroog 
district, Mysore. One brace in hilly jungly ground; the other brace on the plain 
within a quarter mile of the village of Ramgherry, still there were a few bushes, 
I shot a brace of the Common Sand-Grouse within a few yards of these. In the first 
case there were three birds, in the other a pair only. 
“ast February 1879—Bukambidi, Tarikere taluk, Kadur district, Mysore. One 
brace out of three birds. Scrub jungle at foot of a hill.” 
On the other hand Mr. Tufnell says: ‘‘ As regards the occurrence of this bird 
in the Mysore province I can speak, from experience, of its being anything but rare 
on the wooded islands of the Cauvery, near Seringapatam. The largest bag I 
