306 



SAND PTEROCLES. 



gular patch of black, bordered on its upper part 

 with a broad band of chesnut-colour, which reaches 

 to the base of the under jaw, and passes beneath 

 the eyes and ears to the nape : the head, the neck, 

 and the breast, are of an ash-colour, tinged with 

 rufous : a broad bar of black passes over the breast 

 from the insertion of the wings on either side : the 

 belly, the sides, the thighs, and the abdomen, are 

 of a deep black : the under tail-coverts are also 

 black, with their tips white : the back and the 

 whole of the wing-coverts are reddish-yellow ; the 

 middle of the feathers being deepest, and their 

 edges ochrey yellow : quills brownish, with an ob- 

 lique dirty-white spot at their base; the secondaries 

 ash-coloured, bordered and tipped with yellowish : 

 the tail, which is greatly wedge-shaped, is deep 

 ash above, with dusky bars, and the whole of the 

 feathers, except the two middle ones, are tipped 

 with white : the under part of the tail is black, 

 tipped with white : the feathers on the tarsi are 

 whitish yellow : the beak is bluish : the hinder 

 part of the tarsi and the toes are deep yellow. 



The female is less, and her colours more dull ; 

 the grey on the neck being flat, and the black, on 

 the under parts of the body, brownish : the band 

 on the breast is also very small. 



This species is found in the neighbourhood of 

 the Caspian Sea, frequenting the sandy deserts: 

 during the summer it is abundant near Astrakan, 

 but it winters in Persia. Burlu-chuduk appears to 

 be the favourite resort of these birds, on account 

 of its sandy fountains, as they drink a great deal. 



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