beginning oi June be found in Ala-shan tbree nests with three I
eggs in each, one set being quite fresh, the two other^ets I
very much incubated. | It will? be remembered that three was I
the largest number-of eggs found in- one clutch in Denmark, I
and three is well known to be the complement of eggg'witkl
other members of the Pteroclidee. Herr Radde, however, I
who had excellent opportunities of observing this Species i l l
Dauria, and whose detailed account is translated a little I
fuliber on, says that “ the'eggs g© up to four,” although it 1
will be observed that he never mentions, finding more’ than I
three ; and in the frontispiece to the * Reisen im Siiden. von 1
Ost-Sibirien/ Band ii., he figures a pair of birdsi b y ^ e l
side of a nest containing four - eggsh There-may be some I
mistake in this; or it-may point: in another paradoxical I
character in this species, indicating V-elbser' affinity, to ihe |
Plovers than is shewn by the other members^ the order;
but, at-all- eventg,-such a distinct assertion must not sbe j
passed over in silence.
The eggs'are elliptical, stone-buff in colour, with darker
blotches of purple-brown, and average;I-5 in length by T‘l |
in breadth.*
• The following.is a translation of;tbe full account givenfby]
Herr Gu Rjadde in his above.“<rite<feWoi*k, pp. 292-294
« The basin of the Tarei-nor, in Dauria,us situated in about]
'50°iN. lat. and llfipl £ long. The nest, iswery -simple, w -
sembling' those of: the other Sand-^rouse^and • several fpaarsJ
but never many, usually 'breed in-company.?#%^the.'salt-1
impregnated^sod,, on^tlie^Tarei-ner,. usBa%-: enJfche Iground
which has been dry'for years, .a .shallow hollow about'fiva
inches in- diameter i-s^scratched aut^and sthe'edge.’isd.inedj
with a few salsola’shoots and grasses;; but the-;latter.are ^re*|
quently absent. Eggs ga-np taffouK^. n, ddhotexceed four)J
Syr^h^tM^ does. - hot winter! regularly on g _tbe. north-extern^
'edge-ef^pBelevated Gobi,-in Ihe^low spurs-of fthe-northein;
Himalaya- ranges! On theshtfth^^nd^fMarch^
* An eggrlajd in tbe ^ o lo g ic ^G a ^ n s on;liD-t
bifds^senf ftoS^^fiina, was descried and figured by Professor Newten/P.^l. S|
186i--fj£ ipr:;39",
1B56, When at night the thermometer fell to —18° Rëaunrur,
and at midday rose to + 2°, the first flock of the present species
arrived at the Tarëi-nor. They flew in close skeins like Plovers.'
In the spring these flocks are composed of four or six pairs,
as the birds have then paired, but in the autumn more than
a hundred collect together in one f lock.When on the wing
they utter a very audible cry, from which’ their Mongol
name (Njüpterjün) is derived; and ;the'pairs fly close
together. A male, shot on the 17th (29th) March, had the
testes as large as a cedar-nut; and late in March eggs are
to be found, for a female shot on the' 30th March » (11th
April) bad an egg ready for exclusion in her ovary. This
Sand-grouse breeds twice,; and sometimes three times, in
the season. On the 20th April (2nd May) I foünd -fully-
formed young in three eggs in one nest,' and the next day
I took two fresh eggs. On the 14th (26th) .May I again-
found fresh eggs. The young are certainly able to shift for
themselves when hatched, and this fact places-them decidedly
near the Fowls, in spite of their manifold relationship to the
Pigeons. :I first’saw the young bird's*running'after*their
mother on the 80th April (12® May lift's. In 'the morning,
especially in the spring,’they* visit the ’ fresh water to drink
regularly at the ' same hour, and in April this was at. nihe
o’clock. Single pairs arrived from differéntdirections, calling
and being answered by those which had already writed, and
which they then joined : they stood on the; edge of .the watér
in a line, usually eight to twelve, together, not remaining , there
long, but soon leaving, apparently to-feed. They are fond óf
the young juicy shoots of the Sal%corni<k, and regularly grazfb
on these as .the Bustard does on some of the grasses» In the
spring I found the crop and stomach fulPhf thesëedsof.-t'hé
Salsola. During the summer they are fond of basking in* thé
sun, and I then generally .found Several pairs together! Like
fowls, they scratch a hole in the greyish-white salty hillocks
which cover large tracts on the banks óf the Tarei-nor; and
oh which the salt-plants grow. v I have often watched them
resting in these places ; at first, they run about as if search-;
ing for something, and then about eleven o’clock, when it
VOL, III.. r ' - * ■**• f t . .