864 
THE SAND-GROUSE. 
their natural haunts; and, according to their 
species, they are found in the warmer regions 
of Europe, Asia, and Africa. The plains covered 
with the dry African grass, the halfa, and the 
fallow fields, are the localities they prefer. In 
Spain they resort to the bare and uncultivated 
campos. In India, too, they shun the rich 
luxuriant woods, and roam at large in the 
waste places thinly covered with a dwarf and 
scrubby vegetation. It is obvious why the forest 
is no home for them. In their swift, impetuous, 
but unskilful flight, they would dash them- 
selves against the branches or the trunk of a 
tree before they could change their course. 
The instinct of self-preservation would seem 
to be very strong in them ; for in the localities 
they choose, the colour of the soil is always 
as nearly as possible that of their plumage ; 
'\ ^ the reddish-gray of the ganga (Pterocles 
arenarius) agreeing admirably with the 
Rurrs noBTiNO. 
