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Show 1878.] MR. D. G. ELLIOT ON THE PTEROCLID.E. 263 white, with a narrow black line bounding its lower edge. Upper part of breast grey; abdomen and a spot on the centre of flanks dark chestnut; chest and upper part of flanks, rest of underparts, and under tail-coverts pure white. Entire upper parts buff; secondaries and lesser wing-coverts barred irregularly with black. Greater wing-coverts chestnut on their outer webs. Spurious wing-feathers buff, with a central black line. Primaries grey on outer webs, dark brown on inner, and margined on the innermost ones with buff. Tail dark grey, tipped with white and barred on the inner webs with buff, the outer webs having only a slight buff edging. First primary and median rectrices filamentous, the lengthened portion brownish black. Tarsi and toe5 covered with greyish feathers. Bill brown. Total length lOf inches, wing to end of lengthened primary 8|, tail to end of median rectrices 5-|, bill along gape 4. I have not seen this stage of plumage described by any writer. There are two specimens in the Paris Museum-one a little more mature than the other, with the bar across the breast commencing to show as in the adult male. Female. Crown and neck buff, striated with black. Throat ochraceous yellow, feathers edged with black. The upper parts like those of the male, but barred more closely with black; and the wing-coverts are spotted with black. Across the throat is a black band ; and the sides of the neck and breast are spotted with black. Rest of plumage like that of the male ; but the primaries and median rectrices are not so lengthened. The dimensions are about the same as those of the male. 2. SYRRHAPTES TIBETANUS. Syrrhaptes tibetanus, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. (1850) p. 92 ; B. Asia, pt. ii, pl. 12 ; Reich. Syn. Av. Gallin. (1851) pl. ccvii. B. figs. 3020-21 ; Adams, Proc. Zool. Soc. (1858) p. 502, (1859) p. 186; Hend. & Hume, Lahore to Yark. (1873) p. 279 ; Prjevalsky in Rowl. Orn. Misc. pt. ix. p. 384 (1877). Kaling, Tibet and Ladak (Henderson), Stepnaya Kuritza, Tibet-skaya (Prjevalsky). Hab. Salt Lakes of Ladakh (Adams) ; Karakash valley, Yarkand (Henderson); Northern Tibet, steppes of Kokonor (Prjevalsky). Mr. Henderson (I. ci) says that this species was met with by tbe Yarkand Expedition in the Karakash valley towards the end of July, also at a lake twenty miles south-west of Mallik Shah, and was very abundant at Chagra, above the Pangong lake, where it flew up and down the stream in flocks of several hundred individuals, uttering all the time a cry like "Yak, yak." It was very tame; and a great many were shot and, unfortunately, eaten. Lieut. Prjevalsky (I. ci) first met with this Sand-Grouse in the Kokonor steppes in flocks of from ten to thirty, but in Northern Tibet saw it in flocks of about a hundred individuals. They were generally on the sandy plains, and fed on the seeds of various grasses and beans. When so engaged they could be approached quite close, and seldom flew above a hundred yards before settling again, |