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SANDGATE

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Originally appearing in Volume V24, Page 139 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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SANDGATE , a watering-See also:

place of See also:Kent, See also:England, on the S.E. See also:coast, 12 m. W. of See also:Folkestone, on the See also:South-Eastern & See also:Chatham railway. Pop. of See also:urban See also:district (1901) 2023. It is connected with See also:Hythe, 3 M. W., by a See also:tramway belonging to the railway See also:company. It is included in the See also:parliamentary See also:borough of Hythe. Sandgate See also:Castle was built by See also:Henry VIII., but on the formation of a See also:camp here in 18o6 it was considerably altered. The camp of See also:Shorncliffe lies N. of the See also:town on a See also:plateau. See also:SAND-See also:GROUSE, the name' by which are commonly known the members of a small See also:group of birds frequenting sandy tracts, and having their feet more or less clothed with feathers after the See also:fashion of grouse (q.v.), to which they were originally thought to be closely allied; the See also:species first described were by the earlier systematists invariably referred to the genus Tetrao. Their separation therefrom is due to C. J.

Temminck, who made for them a distinct genus which he called Pterocles? Further investigation of the See also:

osteology and pterylosis of the sand-grouse revealed still greater divergence from the normal Gallinae (to which the true grouse belong), as well as several curious resemblances to the pigeons; and in the Zoological Society's Proceedings for 1868 (p. 303) T. H. See also:Huxley proposed to regard them, under the name of Pteroclomorphae, as forming a group See also:equivalent to the Alectoromorphae and Peristeromorphae. They are now ' It seems to have been first used by J. Latham in 1783 (Synopsis, iv. p. 751) as the See also:direct See also:translation of the name Tetrao arenarius given by See also:Pallas. 2 He states that he published this name in 1809; but hitherto re-See also:search has failed to find it used until 1815. See also:SANDHURST 139 generally regarded as forming a See also:separate sub-See also:order Pterocles of Charadriiform birds, allied to pigeons (see Bums). The Pteroclidae consist of two genera—Pterocles, with about fifteen species, and Syrrhaptes, with two. Of the former, two species inhabit See also:Europe, P. arenarius, the sand-grouse proper,, and that which is usually called P. alchata, the See also:pin-tailed sand-grouse.

The See also:

European range of the first is practically limited to See also:Portugal, See also:Spain and S. See also:Russia, while the second inhabits also the S. of See also:France, where it is generally known by its Catalan name of Ganga, or locally as Grandaulo, or, See also:strange to say, Perdrix d'Angleterre. Both species are also abundant in See also:Barbary, and have been believed to extend E. through See also:Asia to See also:India, in most parts of which See also:country they seem to be only See also:winter-visitants; but in 188o M. Bogdanow pointed out to the See also:Academy of St See also:Petersburg (Bulletin, See also:xxvii. 164) a slight difference of coloration between eastern and western examples of what had hitherto passed as P. alchata; See also:analogy would suggest that a similar difference might be found in examples of P. arenarius. India, moreover, possesses five other species of Pterocles, of which, however, only one, P. fasciatus, is See also:peculiar to Asia, while the others inhabit See also:Africa as well, and all the remaining species belong to the Ethiopian region—one, P. personalus, being peculiar to See also:Madagascar, and four occurring in or on the See also:borders of the Cape See also:Colony. The genus Syrrhaptes, though in See also:general See also:appearance resembling Pterocles, has a conformation of See also:foot quite unique among birds, the three anterior toes being encased in a See also:common " podotheca," which is clothed to the claws with hairy feathers, so as to look much like a fingerless See also:glove. The See also:hind toe is wanting. The two species of Syrrhaptes are S. tibetanus—the largest sand-grouse known—inhabiting the country whence its trivial name is derived, and S. paradoxus, ranking from N. See also:China across Central Asia to the confines of Europe, which it occasionally invades. Though its attempts at colonization in the extreme W. have failed, it would seem to have established itself in the neighbourhood of See also:Astrakhan (See also:Ibis, 1882, p. 22o).

It appears to be the " Barguerlac" of Marco See also:

Polo (ed. See also:Yule, i. p. 239) ; and the " Loung-Kio " or " See also:Dragon's Foot," so unscientifically described by the See also:Abbe Huc (Souvenirs d'un Voyage clans la Tartarie, i. p. 244), can scarcely be anything else than this See also:bird. The sand-grouse assimilates in general See also:colour to that of the ground, being above of a dull ochreous See also:hue, more or less barred or mottled by darker shades, while beneath it is frequently varied by belts of deep See also:brown intensifying into See also:black. Lighter tints are, however, exhibited by some species and streaks or edgings of an almost pure See also:white relieve the prevailing sandy or fawn-coloured hues that especially characterize the group. The sexes seem always to differ in plumage, that of the male being the brightest and most diversified. The expression is decidedly See also:dove-like, and so is the See also:form of the See also:body, the See also:long wings contributing also to that effect, so that among Anglo-See also:Indians these birds are commonly known as " See also:rock-pigeons." The long wings, the outermost See also:primary of which in Syrrhaptes has its See also:shaft produced into an attenuated filament, are in all the species worked by exceedingly powerful muscles, and in several forms the See also:middle rectrices are likewise protracted and pointed, so as to give to their wearers the name of Pin-tailed Sand-Grouse.' The See also:nest is a shallow hole in the sand. Three seems to be the See also:regular See also:complement of eggs, but there are writers who declare that the full number in some species is four. These eggs are almost cylindrical in the middle and nearly alike at each end, and are of a See also:pale earthy colour, spotted, blotched or marbled with darker shades, the markings being of two kinds, one superficial and the other more deeply seated in the See also:shell. The See also:young are hatched fully clothed in down (P.Z.S., 1866, pl. ix. fig. 2), and appear to be capable of locomotion soon after See also:birth.

The remains of an See also:

extinct species of Pterocles, P. sepultus, intermediate apparently between P. alchata and P. gutturalis, have been recognized in the See also:Miocene caves of the See also:Allier by A. Milne-See also:Edwards (Ois. See also:foss. de la France, p. 294, p1. clxi., See also:figs. 1-9) ; and, in addition to the other authorities on this very interesting group of birds already cited, reference may be made to D. G. Elliot's " Study " of the See also:Family (P.Z.S., 1878, pp. 233-264) and H. F. Gadow, " On Certain Points in the See also:Anatomy of Pterocles " (op. cit., 1882, pp. 312-332). (A.

End of Article: SANDGATE

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