350 THE BIRDS OF KENT 



openly made as to allow the observer to see the eggs 

 lying on the little platform of twigs, 7 or 8 feet from the 

 ground. Its arrival has been noticed on May 1, 1872, 

 and May 2, 1902, in Kent. 



The note is cuo coo coo coo. Great numbers of these 

 birds frequent Snodland Marshes, no doubt for the 

 purpose of drinking the brackish water in hot weather. 

 Varieties of the Turtle-Dove are often met with, and 

 Lord Clifton mentions a w^hite one found at Cobham 

 Hall, Kent. 



Family PTEROCLID^. 



Genus SYRRHAPTES, Illiger. 



PALLAS'S SAND-GEOUSE. 



Syrrhaptes paradoxus (Pallas). JReise Buss. BeicJis., 

 ii., App., p. 712 (1773). 



The records of the occurrences of Pallas's Sand-Grouse 

 in Kent are here subjoined, with the particulars con- 

 nected with their capture. The first notice is that 

 contained in Yarrell's British Birds, 1882-84 : "In 

 November, 1859, Mr. George Jell, of Lydd, in Kent, 

 preserved a specimen for Mr. Simmons, of East Peckham, 

 near Tunbridge." Perhaps this is the specimen which 

 is in the Maidstone Museum, presented by Mr. G. 

 Simmons. In the Zoologist, 1863, p. 8721, Mr. E. Young, 

 of Sittingbourne, Kent, writing on July 1, 1863, says : 

 "I have two specimens of this rare bird (male and female), 

 shot on June 7, 1863, at Elmley, Sheppey, from a covey 

 of six, and to my knowledge four have been shot out of 

 that number." The two above-mentioned specimens are 



