Pallas' s Sand-Grouse in 1863. 213 



run the British dependency of Heligoland (No. 34), but had 

 even established themselves on the shores of England, at Throp- 

 ton in Northumberland (No. 112). The next day they had pene- 

 trated to Eccleshall, in Staffordshire (No. 122), and crossed the 

 country toWalney, on the coast of Lancashire (133). By the end 

 of the month they had arrived at the Fseroes (No. 145). These 

 dates, as indications of the continuous advance made by the in- 

 vaders, I have thought it advisable to have inserted on the accom- 

 panying map (Plate VI.), which, however, it has seemed to me 

 inexpedient to encumber with further chronological details; 

 because it is pretty plain that, having with so small a loss of time 

 reached meridians so far to the west, it became almost purely a 

 matter of accident when they were recognized in any more 

 eastern locality. Besides, too, these dates, few as they be, I think, 

 are quite sufficient for another purpose. They serve to show the 

 nearly equable rate of the invaders^ progress. There is certainly 

 a considerable break between the recorded observations of the 

 6th and the 14th of May (Nos. 10 and 6), and it would be very 

 desirable could the movements of the birds during the interim 

 be satisfactorily accounted for. But, with this exception, the 

 Tartar horde seems to have swept uninterruptedly onwards in 

 an almost uniformly north-western direction, small bands de- 

 taching themselves from the main body at intervals, and these 

 again often separating into pairs throughout the entire transit. 

 Once arrived at the borders of the ocean, if one may judge 

 from the evidence before us, many were driven back. Then 

 they seem to have spread themselves over the surrounding coun- 

 tries, where some of them have almost ever since been occurring 

 sporadically, seeking out, as was natural, districts most agree- 

 able to their habits. Thus I would partly account for the pre- 

 ference shown to the east coast of England, which the map 

 renders very plain ; but I would remark that too much depend- 

 ence ought not to be placed on this supposed cause, for along 

 the whole shore, from Pevensey Bay to Berwick Bounds, the 

 prevalence of gunners, who make their living all the year round 

 by shooting wild-fowl, and whose attention was immediately ex- 

 cited by these strangers, must also be taken into consideration. 

 When Mr. Gould, last August, wrote the account of this spe- 



