PALLAS'S SAND-GROTJSE. 389 



July 8tli. — Male and female from Yarmouth. These 

 bu'ds, which are in the possession of Mr. Owles, of 

 Yarmouth, are supposed to have been killed near Caister. 

 They were sent up to Norwich on the 9th for preserva- 

 tion, when I exammed them in the flesh. They were 

 neither of them in such good condition as most of the 

 earlier specimens ; the keel of the breast-bone being 

 sharper to the touch; nor were they so fat internally, 

 though perfectly healthy. The colours of the plumage 

 in both male and female looked dull, and exhibited no 

 signs of moulting. In the former, the tail feathers were 

 half an inch shorter than usual; but both the tail 

 and wings in the latter were an average length. The 

 gizzards presented the same class of small seeds as in 

 others, with white flinty particles ; but these both 

 smaller and less numerous than in many I had dissected. 

 The female, probably a young bird, contained a large 

 cluster of very small eggs ; none larger than a common 

 rape-seed. The male was evidently an adult specimen. 



July 9th. — Male and female. This pair, like several 

 previous examples, were killed on the sand-hills between 

 Holme and Hunstanton, and were purchased in a fresh 

 state at Lynn. Neither the crops nor gizzards presented 

 any variation from former specimens. 



July 10th. — Of a male killed at Croxton, near Thet- 

 ford, Mr. Cole, for whom the bird was preserved, has 

 supplied me with the following particulars : — '' It was 

 killed on my farm by one of the boys, about the 10th 

 of July last. There were four of them together at the 

 time, feeding on turnip seed ; the three remaining ones 

 were seen often afterwards, but could not be shot. Once 

 or twice, when riding, I got within shot, but never when 

 walking. Their flight is peculiar — ^very sharp and quick, 

 with a humming sound." 



September. — Mr. Newton, in his paper in the " Ibis" 

 (p. 204), records one specimen as kiUed at Methwold 



