becomes hot, they rest, scratching a bole in the ground, and, I
like barn-door fowls, working themselves in comfortably, *
lying on one side, with their usually smooth plumage puffed I
out:' They do not place a sentinel, but sikmotionlOss, their I
black-sprinkled plumage assimilating, so well with the1 ^od I
that they can scarcely be distinguished. When disturbed*
they rise," uttering a cry, and fly off with great'rapidity as; do*
all that hear the alarm-cry, although not belonging't^the j
same flock. They first pack together, then divide into* small I
flocks, and by degrees return to their restiflg-places.^So 9
swift are they on the wing, that it is scarcely' possible fori
the fastest Falcon"to catch-them; and their flight is more I
rapid and straighter than that of 'the Pigeon: ' T 'doubt, I
howeVer, if they can run far, as, when Lhav-e*- been watching I
them, although they'ran-swiftly,"they did mot contihhe for 1
any distance. I t'is rc&frSouSi how thefdarge flocks'-migrate I
away in -the summer. I had a peculiar instance -of this!
from pefsoud.observation; Late in”M&y I went'to visit thel
Aral Island, in the] Tarei-nor, and had,-' to' pass -the targe 1
tract where the lake "war dried btiSls*5> and iff fhtf forenoon 11
saw a number of flocksSand-grouse w h ich in h ab ite« is|
place, and were so^shy’that I could not "possibly approach I
them / sof after'many unsuccessful attempts1 to Ihoot them, I
gave up the chash tiTFtle' evening. At Sunset' they. had j
collected1 into two’ largefdocks 'of -at' leafet'-a^thousandfindi-l
viduals bach; andTwefe m aking^ gflrft'Uptee^ and it wasl
noVimpossiMWapproach thfe-rh.^ After being-severaLtimosI
disturbed, th/eylefFthe.shores of-the Tarei-nor and went tol
the neighbouring wintering-place of the-flocks fhfi sheepp^h.)i
where, from'the numerous dinppfngs,.’ was .always a
large ' blaekisbJbrbVn patch on 'the p sterile- stepphA |Here1
they remained undisturbed," as the darkness^provented sma
from following tH em ^ lu t they "continued calling 4©’odlyj
On the-next day'none “were t@Fbe' seed ; and late^efe- I did|
not see; one.-“ The1 herdsmen- also assured menth-at|#.!er|
were no Band: grouse^ left/ hut"dbat" they -would return in
autumn ; * and such proved to 'die-the “case
when 'north 'of-the Dalai-nor, a large; noisy-flock ‘passed^
me, travelling from the south to the north. Here, on the
north-east of the Gobi, if they remain in the autumn, the
natives calculate on a mild winter. . . . . . The flesh .of
this Sand-grouse is white and very good/’ . ^ "
From the above narrative it will be observed that this Sand-
grouse is liable to sudden movements in large flocks, but
of the cause which produced the invasionnf 1863 no more
is known now than it was then, although various, hypotheses
have ! been started. As regards the merits of its flesh,
which Herr Radde naturally found excellent in the deserts
of the Tarei-nor, Mr. Stevenson, experimenting upon examples
which had first been skinned,ffefound them, a t^ thw
best, nearly equal to a French Partridge; the - only resemblance
to Grouse consisting in the two colours of the flesh,
the outer portion of which is dark and that nearest-the bone
white : a feature -which, it -may be remarked, is common to
the other Sand-grouse.
In the adult male the bill is horn-colour,-the crown of
the head yellowish-grey, with -dusky streaks ; hind neek
crossed by a band of orange, more' intense’-at the sides,^rest
buff-grey; hack and scapulars-ochraceous,- barred with dark
brown and black, as are the rump and upper- tail-coyer-ts-, -on-
which • the; bars gradually change into - streaks; primaries
lavender, with black shafts and dark tips, the outer quills
attenuate, especially the first, which is the longestsecondaries
buff .on the inner and black oijutho outer webs; wing-
coverts buff, bordered with chestnut, forming a eonsphpous
band along the wing; tail of sixteen, feathers, mostly tipped
with white, grey, censes,, and rich buff inner webs barred
with dark brown: the central pair buff, barred, with black
on the upper parts, then passing into.;grey, and- then to dark
brown near the filamentous tips, often exceeding the others
by fully three inches ; chin huff; . threat orange ; lower parts,
buff, with a narrow hand of black-edgM*foathe$£on the chest,
and a broader dark brown band on the. abdomen and flanks;
under wing-coverts pale huff;, pnder taiLcoyeT.|gr white, the
lower ones long and pointed, with dark centres..; degs and
feet, down to the toes/ covered with huff-white feathers,