Pterocles exustus, TemmincL
VomaClllar ITaUlOC.—[Bhut-titur, Bukht-titur, Kumar-tit, Kuhar, &o„ IV. IV. Pre
rinees, Punjab, 6>Y. ; Butahur, Batibun, Sind; Popandi, Bkeels ; Pakorade,
Pukurdee, Pokundi, (Marathi), Khdndesh, Deccan. Ox. ; Palki, Brfgauiu ; Jam-
Polanka, (Telugu) j Kal gowjal haki, (Kanarcsc), Mysore; Kal-kondari, (Tamil.)]
^HROUGHOUT India Proper, where the rainfall is
moderate, the soil fairly dry, and the country open
and tolerably level, the Common Sand-Grouse
abounds. Towards the cast and south its general
distribution is much that of the Painted Sand-Grouse,
though the particular localities it affects are different,
but it is a western form which extends into India
and not a purely Indian form, and it is common in places (for instance
in Sind,) to which P. fasciatus does not extend.
It is a bird of the level, sparsely wooded, sandy countries
far excellence, and though it may be shot in sandy plains
close to hills in Rajputana, unlike the Painted Sand-Grouse,
it eschews hills, has no liking for scrub, and absolutely avoids
damp, swampy, low-lying tracts, jungles and forests.
Bearing this in mind, it may be said that it occurs in all
suitable localities throughout the whole of the Punjab, Sind,
Rajputana, the N. W. Provinces and Oudh, the western parts of
Bchar, and of Chota Nagpore, the Central Provinces and the
Central India Agency including Bundelkhand, Berar, the Nizams
Territory, the whole Bombay Presidency, except the sub-Ghat
littoral,* Mysorc,t and the Northern and Central portions of the
Madras Presidency.
* Mr. Vidal writes :—
" This species is not found at all in the Konkan, nor on the eastern slopes and
spurs of the Western Ghats. A few birds are found on the barer plains and hill sides
about thirty miles east of the Ghats, and as the country becomes more bare and treeless,
and the scrub-clad hills and spurs are replaced by the open plains of the eastern
districts of Poona and Satara, Grouse are found plentifully. In the neighbourhood
of the Bhima, Nira, and Yerla rivers they are especially numerous, and every
morning and evening hundreds may be seen flying in successive small parties to
drink all along the banks of these rivers. After drinking, the birds sun themselves
on ths bare stubbles and rocky plains for half an hour or so every morning. By
taking up a position on the river bank close to any favourite drinking place, very
pretty shooting may be had, and a considerable bag be made."
+ Mr. Davidson says :—
'•This species was rather rare in Mysore, though I found a few about the Tumkur
district." Another correspondent, however, s a y s : — " I have met with this bird
throughout Mysore, It is exceedingly abundant in the Chitaldroog district."