Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 21.djvu/279

Rh S A N S A N 259 sionally, and in a marvellous manner, invades, as lias been already briefly described (BIRDS, vol. iii. p. 770). 1 Though its attempts at colonization in the extreme west have failed, it would seem to have established itself of late years in the neighbourhood of Astrakhan (Ibis, 1882, p. 220). It appears to be the "Barguerlac " of Marco Polo (ed. Yule, i. p. 239) ; and the " Loung-Kio " or " Dragon's Foot," so unscientifically described by the Abb6 Hue (Souvenirs d'un Voyage dans la Tartarie, i. p. 244), can scarcely be anything else than this bird. Externally all Sand-Grouse present an appearance so distinctive that nobody who has seen one of them can be in doubt as to any of the rest. Their plumage assimilates in general colour to that of the ground they frequent, being above of a dull ochreous hue, more or less barred or mottled by darker shades, while beneath it is frequently varied by belts of deep brown intensifying into black. Lighter tints are, however, exhibited by some species, the drab merging into a pale grey, the buff brightening into a lively orange, and' streaks or edgings of an almost pure white relieve the pre- vailing 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 l3ove-like, and so is the form of the body, the long wings contributing also to that effect, so that among Anglo-Indians these birds are commonly known as "Rock- Pigeons." The long wings, the outermost primary of which in Syrrnaptes has its shaft produced into an attenuated filament, are in all the species worked by exceedingly powerful muscles, and in several forms. the middle rectrices are likewise protracted and pointed, so as to give to their wearers the name of Pin-tailed Sand-Grouse. 2 The nest is a shallow hole in the sand. Three seems to be the regular comple- ment of eggs laid in each nest, but there are writers who declare (most likely in error) that the full number in some species is four. These eggs are of peculiar shape, being almost cylindrical in the middle and nearly alike at each end, and are of a 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 shell. The young are hatched fully clothed iii down (P. Z. S. 1866, pi. ix. fig. 2), and though not very active would appear to be capable of locomotion soon after birth. Morphologically generalized as the Sand-Grouse undoubtedly are, no one can contest the extreme specialization of many of their features, and thus they form one of the most instructive groups of birds with which ornithologists are acquainted. The remains of an extinct species of Pterocles, P. sepultus, intermediate apparently between P. alcliata and P. gutturalis, have been recognized in the Miocene caves of the Allier by Prof. A. Milne-Edwards (Ois. foss. de la France, p. 294, pi. clxi. figs. 1-9) ; and, in addition to the other authorities on this very interesting group of birds already cited, reference may be made to Mr Elliot's "Study" of the Family (P. Z. S., 1878, pp. 233-264) and Dr Gadow, " On certain points in the Anatomy of Pterocles" (op. tit., 1882, pp. 312-332). (A. N.) SANDHUEST, a city of Victoria, Australia, in the county of Bendigo, is situated in 36 46' S. lat. and 144 17' E. long., at a height of 758 feet above the sea, on Bendigo Creek (a sub-tributary of the Murray), lOOf miles north-north-west of Melbourne by the railway to Echuca. Built on an exhausted part of old goldfields of Bendigo (1851), and long better known by that name, Sandhurst, which became a municipality in 1855, a borough in 1863, and a city in 1871, has been gradually working itself clear of the irregularity and disorder characteristic of abandoned mines and quartz-crushing enterprises. Pall Mall, the principal street, consists of good houses of two and three stories ; and, besides banks, insurance offices, hotels, and churches (many of which are 1 Some slight additions to and corrections of that account may here be given. A sixth example is stated (Ibis, 1871, p. 223) to have been killed in Europe in 1859, namely, at Perpignan in France. One is believed to have been obtained at or near Archangel (fbis, 1873, p. 66); but the report of one in Sicily proves to have been a mistake, and Rimini, on the Adriatic, remains the most southern Italian locality reached in 1863. Since 1872 a male obtained near Modena in May 1876 (Ibis, 1881, p. 206), and a pair, one of which was shewn to the writer, in the county of Kildare in Ireland, the following October (Zoologist, 1877, p. 24), are all that are known to have occurred in Western Europe. 2 These were separated by Bonaparte (Comptes Rmdus, xlii. p. 880) as a distinct genus, Pteroclurus, which later authors have justly seen no reason to adopt. substantial buildings), there are in Sandhurst Govern- ment and municipal offices, a hospital, a benevolent asylum, a mechanics' institute and school of mines, a theatre, and several halls. Rosalind Park, opposite Pall Mall, the Camp Reserve, and the Botanical Gardens are the principal pleasure grounds. A good supply of water has been secured by the construction of five large reser- voirs capable of storing in the aggregate upwards of 622,600,000 gallons. Besides gold-mining, which in the Sandhurst district employs 6800 miners, the local indus- tries are brewing, iron-casting, coach-building, the working of bricks and tiles and earthenware, and tanning. The population of the city (which is divided into three wards Sutton, Darling, and Barkly) was 28,662 in 1881. The value of rateable property is 1,663,910. SAN DIEGO, a city and port of entry of the United States, chief town of San Diego county, California, 15 miles north of the Mexican frontier. It has a land-locked harbour 5| miles long and next to San Francisco the best on the Pacific coast of the States, is the selected terminus of the Texas and Pacific Railroad, and has recently become a fashionable winter resort owing to the remarkable steadi- ness of its winter climate (mean annual temperature 62). San Diego was founded by Roman Catholic missionaries in 1769. In 1880 it had only 2637 inhabitants, but they have since increased to upwards of 5000. In the county is a lake of boiling mud half a mile long by 500 yards wide. SAN" DOMINGO, or SANTO DOMINGO. See HAYTI. SANDOMIR, or SEDOMIEKZ, a town of Russian Poland, in the province of Radom, is one of the oldest towns of Poland, being mentioned in annals as early as 1079 ; from 1139 to 1332 it was the chief town of the principality. Under Casimir III. it received extensive privileges and reached a high degree of prosperity and strength. In 1429 it was the seat of a congress for the establishment of peace with Lithuania, and in 1570 the well-known "Con- sensus Sandomiriensis " was held there for uniting the Lutherans, Calvinists, and Moravian Brethren. Subse- quent wars, and especially the Swedish, ruined the town still more than numerous conflagrations, and in the second part of the 18th century it had only 2060 inhabitants. It is now a quite unimportant place, but retains a few remark- able monuments of its past. The beautiful cathedral, rising on a high hill above the Vistula, and facing the plains of Galicia, was built between 1120 and 1191 ; it was rebuilt in stone in 1360, and is thus one of the oldest monuments of old Polish architecture. The churches of St Paul and St James are fine relics of the 13th century. In 1881 the population was 6265, or, including the suburbs, 14,710. SANDOWAY, a district in the south of the Arakan division of British Burmah, ceded to the British by treaty in 1826, embracing an area of 3667 square miles, and bounded on the north by the Ma-i river, on the west by the Bay of Bengal, on the east by the Arakan Mountains, and on the south by the Khwa river. The whole face of the country is mountainous, the Arakan range sending out spurs which reach down to the coast. Some of the peaks in the north attain an elevation of over 4000 feet. Not more than one-eighteenth part of the surface can be called plain and, except there, where rice cultivation is carried on, and on the hill-sides, where clearings are made for toungya or nomadic cultivation, the country is covered with dense forest. There is nothing in the district that can be called a river, the streams draining it being but mountain torrents to within a few miles of the coast ; the mouth of the Khwa forms a good anchorage for vessels of from 9 to 10 feet draught. So far as is known of the geology of the district, the rocks in the Yoma range and its spurs are metamorphic, and comprise clay, slates, ironstone, and in- durated sandstone ; towards the south, ironstone, trap, and