PIET- TAIIi'E'B S Á IB (& E C Ì IT S E .
PterocLes Alchata, ('tw vm ).
P I N T A I t E D S A N D -G :ft O USE.
■ P tero c les setarius, Temm.
L e G an g a Cata.
T/u, Pbitalled Sand-G/rouse is a native o f the southern portion o f Europe,'the North of Africa, and the level
and arid plains o f Persia; it is also particularly abundant in Spain, Sicily, and through the whole of the
Levant, visiting at uncertain seasons, and in small numbers, the southern provinces o f France. It is a bird
o f migratory habits, and, like its congeners, prefers wild and barren districts where.the poverty of the soil
..¿fords but little inducement to the enterprise o f man; we are consequently unable to,obtain any minute
details respecting its habits and manners. Its lood consists of seeds, insects, and the tender shoot* of vegetables.
Its nest, says M. Teourinch, is constructed On the earth among loose stones and tufts o f herbage,
the female being said to lay four, or five eggs, the colour o f which is unknown. Nothing can be more beautiful,
or evince more evident inarfc» o f design, than the peculiarities which the great Author o f Nature has bestowed
upon the birds that coa,;w‘se ;iic great or prouse, as .r^ r d s fi»rm and colouring »A: connexion
with their habits and mode o f lile, 'fhc* «re all «core or less migratory ; but in those species which
nature has placed in counfries where a luxuriant vegetation supplies them with abundance o f food, we find a
rounded form of win;; , and moderate power o f ffighk siiftkienfc only to enable them to pass from one pasture
or heath to another. It appears also bountifully pjwmded byjfrwidcjaee, that various birds inhabiting countries
where the seasons and surface- of the earth in sunisuer and winter preterir- striking' contrast»: should also
undergo a. corresponding and analogous change o f plumage s -tlum, the different species of Ptarmigan of the
northern parts o f Europe change their brown livery o f summer, which accords so weft with t!*e colour o f the
heathy hills they inhabit, to 'ii pure white' in «'inter, almost rivaling the ¡¡ (wtlew ‘ .i'ovy by whkh^ fhey are
then for a t im e surrounded. Their plumage also at this inclement season becomes thicker, aud invests the
whole o f the body even to the extremity o f the toes.-—-If from this we turn to the bird before uS, we find ai»
equal provision for its wants and mode o f life, varied according to the almost opposite circumstances in which
— iria-plaecd. Not inhabiting moors or districts :cóvered with verdure, but dwelling in extensive sandy plains,
with here and there only a'patch o f scanty vegetation, and where the season mid soil preserve a iia lra o s t ’
complete uniformity o f temperature and appearance, greater powers o f flight are required and bestowed ; the
wings are elongated and pointed, to enable it to pass with facility over immense tracts in its search after food
>r water, or to chantre i i i situation from one district to another; the colour o f the plumage also remains
unchanged tbrougiMit iW . *«%«&». ifes* ' may .ever assimilate with the sandy and stony.soil veliere nature ha*
fixed its abode * the ivóstril» ami the tarai' falthough exhibiting' rudiment«. o f down, ) are
v lf* • r'omnarisoit with till' frit-'fed &*i ¡ordu > . • r?'!«< i'. ; >. -Tlie connexion which • sack cfcififfics
and such modifications o f structure eviuce, ùi rfife- ; .’tee f<> the prcscrvatioìi .and protection o f the'specie 5, cannot
fail to ¿ ¿ r e s t t'kemslvcs ink'.,- H « tó á i« ¿ h k k S I a he S í S I ;'l! l H ' 1,1 " $ l f | 8 1 ! { !
aénns the breast extends a band ñsiariv ¿WíhWi hnd«iL cff a 'vu&im - » r., À w ahìì hefow with a!
narrow black line * the head, heck, back a?wi «lapidar« rtfmp ruifcl *aiL«n!r«ikH' barred with
y^bnvish • the small aud middle ‘iving-covertó' rt»9i*àeiS with chestnut and edged with white ;
’ ¿water coverte olive inclining to ásh-cóíour, each-¿¿¿her hettig terminated by a Muck erbacent ; the whole of
the «uwler surface o f a pure white : the taihfealliers tip” :i with white ; the outer one bn each side edged with
white also the two middle feathérs are long, and pass gradually into sieiiclerlam en te exceeding; the rest, by
tlircé wiehes : length between, ten and eleven inches, exclusive o f the elongated tail-feathers.
) u tne~femaíe, the throat is white ; below this p&rtial collar o f black which reaches ouiy to the sides oí
the urck, with the broad orange band and black Kuos common to the nude the whole o f the upper part
batted with black, yellow, and ash-blue ; all Use wing-coverts bluish ash ; the primaries have íj ¿find o f rc\l
*>id terminate with Muck bars ; the two elongated tail-feathers only exceed the others two inches».
VA««h»- birds differ from boti» parents, in having the general plumage less varied.
We have figured a male and female o f the natural sire.