Flight 
These birds are exceptionally strong on the wing as well as swift 
and direct in flight. Whistler (41) quotes Colonel Meinertzhagen as 
indicating 43 to 47 miles an hour to be the normal flight speed of 
sandgrouse. Dement'ev (15) says that the flight is swift but slower 
than that of the Tibetan sandgrouse. Resting birds, when flushed, have 
a habit of springing almost straight up 5 to 10 feet before winging 
away. In Turkey and Iraq it was normal for them to rise at long shot- 
gun range and either to fly out of sight over the horizon or to circle 
briefly and alight a short distance away. 
Wariness 
The imperial is the wildest and shyest of the Asian sandgrouse, 
Its inclination to seek new waterholes when disturbed at its customary 
drinking place has been mentioned. Where not much hunted, one may not 
even require a blind to secure excellent bags but by the second day of 
shooting many birds will flair off well out of range of a man dressed 
in aught but the native garb. 
Resting and Roosting 
Except for flights to water or for food, these birds rest on the 
ground in open plains, fallow fields or in the dust of the cart tracks 
that pass for roads. Much the same locations are selected for roosting. 
When walking or driving over the desert at night it is not unusual to 
put up small groups that disappear into the night with a whistle of 
wings. 
Breeding 
In Turkey the birds were usually paired off before or shortly 
after their arrival from the south in March, Breeding may take place 
shortly thereafter though Dement'ev indicates that in Siberia the breed- 
ing season starts by April which is later than in Turkey. Breeding may 
continue into August in Turkey and likewise in Siberia where Zarudny 
(1896) found well-developed eggs in 5 of 11 females shot on July 20, 
Of 27 females killed on August 10 by him, 20 had long since completed 
egg laying, 5 had just finished, and in 2, eggs ready to be laid were 
still present in the oviduct. 
Nesting and Renesting 
Imperial sandgrouse nests are mere unlined hollows located in an 
open spot or semishaded by a stone or vegetation. The normal clutch 
consists of 2 or 3 eggs. 
Recorded nesting dates vary from mid-April to August. Full comple- 
ments of eggs were collected in mid-April in North Africa (Whitaker, 45) 
and equally early nests were reported to me in central Turkey. Unfavor- 
able weather conditions are said to cause a recession of the reproductive 
54 
