59 
REPORT ON 
PALLAS SAND-GROUSE (SYRRHAPTES PARADOXUS) 
IN THE NORTH-WEST OF ENGLAND. 
H. A. MACPHERSON, M.B.O.U. 
_ Berore detailing the statistics regarding Pallas Sand-grouse, 
which constitute the raison a’étre of the present essay, it is pro- 
' posed to take a cursory glance at the general bearings of the 
___ subject, in order that such readers, as are not practised ornithologists, 
_ may be placed in a position to comprehend the interest which 
recent events have awakened in scientific quarters. Pallas Sand- 
grouse is essentially an Asiatic species, making its home in the 
1 
_ arid Kirghis steppes, the great Gobi desert, and extending its range 
eastward through Mongolia to the plains between Pekin and Tien- 
_ stin in North China. (Elliott.) Prjevalsky states that Syrrhaptes 
4 paradoxus “is one of the most characteristic birds of Mongolia, 
- inhabiting not only the steppes, but also the deserts. In summer 
they go north, even beyond Lake Baikal where they breed, but 
_ spend the winter in the Gobi desert in such localities as are free 
_ from snow, and in Ala-shan ; and from the middle of October we 
constantly meet with them there, sometimes in flocks of several 
thousands.” (Rowley. Orn. Misc. I. p. 382.) 
_ The first man to obtain a specimen was a Russian, Nicol 
_ Rytschkof, who forwarded it to Pallas, but in a mutilated condition, 
_ having lost the long tail feathers, which form so conspicuous an 
q ornament of the species. Not having a supplementary tail, Pallas 
_ figured the specimen without one (Russ. Reichs. I, App. 712, 
