Volume 6, Plate XXV / Ornithology (Birds)

Banded Sand Grouse (Male)

Pterocles arenarius

Pterocles arenarius is a strong yet light sand grouse with long ample wings and feet adapted for running, its grey and yellowish brown plumage of peculiar opaque lustre, the male with deep brownish black belly, a throat spot, and a dark breast band. It inhabits the sandy plains of southern Russia along the Volga and most abundantly northern Africa, straying rarely into Spain, nesting among stunted brush with four or five eggs and feeding chiefly on astragalus seeds.