indicating that large numbers remain in the Kizil-Kum desert in 
Kazakhstan during the warm winters and Ivanov (1940, 1945) found 
occasional birds in Tadzhikistan even after the majority had migrated 
to the south. Dement'ev states that they winter regularly along the 
Amu-Darya River, in the Murgab, in Tedzhen, and in the piedmont zone 
of Kopet-Dag, as well as along the eastern coast of the Caspian Sea. 
With the advent of warming weather, wintering populations move 
northwards to their breeding and summer ranges in central and northern 
Spain, the arid, Anatolian region of central Turkey, the broad plains 
and valleys to the east, and the uplands of northern Iran. Some birds, 
presumably migrants from northwestern India and West Pakistan, move 
into the high plateaus of Afghanistan, where Bump found them breeding 
at about 10,000 feet in 1956. Further north, beyond the great massif 
of the Hindu Kush, we saw birds in June on the grassy airfield at. 
Kunduz in Afghanistan on which they are reported to nest. Some even 
settle down on the steppes of southwestern Siberia north and east of 
the Caspian Sea (Dement'ev 15). So far as is known no imperial sand- 
grouse breed in India and I do not know of many in the highlands of 
the Northwest Frontier, though Williams (46) reports that large numbers 
nest in the valley about Quetta, West Pakistan, and in the low hills to 
the west. In studying and collecting foreign game species, Bump tra- 
versed most of the range of the imperial sandgrouse, except for Siberia, 
and Christensen and Bohl observed the birds mainly in northwestern India. 
For clarity, first-person singular references, used here, refer to 
observations by Bump. 
Apparently nonmigratory populations have established themselves 
in Spain, North Africa, southern Turkey, and northern Iran. Dement'ev 
(15) indicates that probably sedentary birds are found still further 
north in Turkman and Tadzhikistan north of Iran and Afghanistan as 
well as in northern Iran, and Dolgushin (17) states that some imperials 
winter, when conditions are favorable, as far north as Kazahkan, east 
of the Caspian and Ariel seas. 
The general impression of vast numbers of imperial sandgrouse in 
favorable habitats has developed from concentrations observed about 
waterholes in the early part of the day. In arid areas, open water 
attracts these birds from all the surrounding territory and, on 
occasion, from distances as far as 10 to 20 miles away. Their thirst 
quenched, they then scatter out to the extent that from April through 
October I found it difficult to locate more than pairs or small parties 
of birds together during the remaining hours of daylight. 
No extensive studies of breeding density have been undertaken, 
In Anatolia, judging from the number of adults frequenting an isolated 
waterhole in relation to the extent of potentially productive habitat 
surrounding it, I estimated that breeding populations here might be 
from 1 to 2 pairs per 100 acres. One might be casually surprised at 
31 
