ANATOMY OF BIRDS
GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION
MIGRATIONS OF BIRDS
CLASSIFICATION OF BIRDS
LIZARD-TAILED BIRD
AMERICAN TOOTHED-BIRDS
THE OSTRICHES
THE RHEAS
EMEUS AND CASSOWARIES
THE TINAMOUS
THE KIWIS
THE PENGUINS
LOONS AND GREBES
ALBATROSSES & PETRELS
STORK-LIKE BIRDS
GOOSE-LIKE BIRDS
FALCON-LIKE BIRDS
FOWL-LIKE BIRDS
CRANE-LIKE BIRDS
PLOVER-LIKE BIRDS
CUCKOO-LIKE BIRDS
THE ROLLER-LIKE BIRDS
SPARROW-LIKE BIRDS
Birds and Birding's Guide to:
Watching THE PLOVER-LIKE BIRDS
THE GULLS AND THEIR ALLIES
Sand Grouse Habitat
The first genus (Syrrkaptes), characterized by the absence of the hind toe, as well as by the great elongation of the middle pair of tail-feathers, contains but two species, both of eastern Asia. Of these Pallas's Sand Grouse (S. paradoxus), a bird from twelve to fourteen and a half inches in length, may be known by the buff, or yellowish gray, vermiculated upper parts, a large black abdominal patch, rusty red throat, and a zone of white across the breast; the smaller female lacks the pectoral zone of black and white and is duller throughout.
This species ranges from the Kirghis Steppes to central Asia, Mongolia, and northern China, and is the species which, under the guidance of an erratic and wholly unexplained impulse, sometimes invades western Europe in great numbers. Such incursions occurred notably in the years 1863 and 1888, a few even penetrating as far as the British Islands, where several pairs nested, as well as on the sandhills of Holland, Jutland, and other localities, but the persecution was too great, and they failed to establish themselves. When they may come again, or if ever, or the causes which inaugurate the movements are wholly unknown.
The other member of this genus is the Tibetan Pin-tailed Sand Grouse (S. tibelanus), the largest of the family, reaching a length of nearly sixteen inches, and known by the entirely white abdomen. It is a noisy bird, frequenting the barren and desolate steppes of Tibet at elevations between 12,000 and 18,000 feet, where it is commonly observed in parties of from three to twenty, though occasionally several hundred are seen together. Its nesting habits are little known.
Of the remaining genera, in both of which the hind toe is present, the first (Pteroclurus) is distinguished by having the two middle tail-feathers elongate and narrowly pointed, while in the typical Sand Grouse (Pterocles) these tail-feathers are normal. The Masked Sand Grouse (P. personatus) of Madagascar, the species selected for illustration, is so named from the presence of a broad black band surrounding the gape. It has the back uniform brown, and the belly rufous-buff closely barred with black; the length is eleven and a half inches.
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