Female 
"Upper plumage dull buff, streaked with marks of dark brown, on the 
hind-neck these increase to blotches and on the back and other parts be-~ 
come broad bars; scapulars, inner secondaries, lesser and median coverts 
like the back but the feathers broadly tipped with buff and some of the 
coverts finely edged with brown; sides of head, neck and breast more ‘ 
vinous and strongly spotted with black; lower breast dull pale ochre-buff; | 
abdomen, flanks and vent rufous-buff closely barred with very dark brown; 
under tail-coverts creamy buff. 
"Colours of soft parts. Iris dark brown; orbital skin pale yellow 
to pale greenish-yellow; bill and feet slaty-grey to plumbeous or 
lavender-blue, claws blackish. 
"Young birds have the whole of the upper parts dull buff, finely 
vermiculated all over with thin wavy lines of black; chin to breast 
earthy~buff finely barred with blackish; abdomen and flanks dull black; 
quills freckled with buff at the tips and inner secondaries freckled all 
overs; greater and median coverts black edged with dark buff. 
"Nestling in down. Above pale ginger broken by white patterns and 
lines, pricked out in black; underparts isabelline-white, darkest on 
the throat; the pattern on the head and on the back assumes the shape 
of a figure eight." 
Weight 
Baker (3) gives the weights as; males, 8 to 10 oz.; females, 7.5 
to 8.5 oz. Sixteen birds were collected by Christensen in the Thar 
Desert and the weights were 6.5 to 8.25 oz. for the males and 6.0 to 
7.5 oz. for the females, 
Habitat and Cover Preferences 
Prime common sandgrouse habitat occurs in northwestern India where 
the annual precipitation varies from a low of approximately 5 inches in 
the vicinity of Jaisalmer to slightly over 14 inches at Jodhpur. The 
common sandgrouse inhabits the vast desert flats in areas where the 
vegetation is often sparse and water scarce. The principal vegetation 
is a scattering of thorny shrubs (Acacia leucophloea, Ziziphus sp. and 
Capparis aphylia) with an understory of grasses and weeds. Calatropis sp. 
are found in abundance. In the drier western reaches of the Thar Desert 
the rocky soil, desert pavement, and general characteristics of the 
vegetation are almost typical of what one would see in many of the south- 
western deserts in the United States. Sandgrouse abound in this region. 
A food crop of leguminous forbs seems to be particularly necessary, and 
the annual crop of grasses and forbs depends upon the summer monsoon rains, 
Periodic droughts, which have an effect upon the extent and success of the 
vegetation, do occur. In the Thar Desert limited dry farming of millet, 
pulse, and wheat occurs where practical, and although the comnon Indian 
sandgrouse is often found in association with cultivated lands (primarily 
fallow fields) it is not dependent upon agriculture. 
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