102 



THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



[June 



Turnix Sykesii, A. Smith. This, the smallest of Indian game birds 

 was found in grass, cotton, and other crops all round Ahomdabad, but 

 not in great numbers. It is very difficult to get this little bird up, and 

 when flushed it only flies a very short distance before settling again, 

 and can hardly be got up a second time. 



THE IMPERIAL SAND-GROUSE, 



PTEROCLES ARENARIUS, PALLAS. 



Although I saw the Imperial Sand-grouse on several occasions, I 

 never succeeded in bringing one to bag, so I quote Dr. Jerdon's de- 

 scription in extenso; Male, crown and middle of the nape, brownish- 

 grey with a pinkish tinge ; rest of the upper parts mingled ashy and 

 fulvous, each feather being bluish ashy in the middle, edged with ful- 

 vous, giving a mottled appearance ; greater wing-coverts, plain ochre- 

 ous or orange buff, and the median coverts also broadly edged with 

 the same; quills and primary coverts dark slaty, with black shafts; 

 tail, as the back, fulvous, with black and ashy bands; all the lateral 

 tail feathers tipped with white; beneath the chin is deep chestnut, 

 passing as a band under the ear-coverts to the nape; and below this, 

 on the middle of the throat, is a small triangular patch of black; the 

 breast and sides of the neck dull ashy, tinged with fulvous, with a 

 narrow band of black on the breast; abdomen and vent, deep black; 

 under tail coverts, black, with white margins to the feathers; tarsal 

 plumes, pale yellowish. 



Bill, bluish; feet, dull yellow; irides, dark brown. Length i2-| to 

 1 3 J inches; wing, gj; tail, 4; tarsus, i-J-. The wings reach nearly to 

 the end of the tail, which has the two central feathers very slightly 

 lengthened and pointed; weight, 17 to 18 J- ounces. 



The female differs in having the whole head and upper parts, with 

 the breast, fulvous, banded with brown; the pectoral band is narrower ; 

 and between that and the black of the abdomen is unspotted ; the chin 

 is fulvous, with a narrow black edging and a few black specks ; the 

 under tail-coverts, pale fulvous. She is said to be a little smaller, but 

 one writer in the 'Bengal Sporting Magazine,' states that she is 

 heavier than the male. 



This is a very handsome bird with a strong and rapid flight not 

 unlike that of a pigeon. It is only a winter visitant to India, and is 

 not found in the South or East. Outside India it has a very wide 

 range. It is common in various parts of Central and Western Asia, 



