190 
October, 1822, after a very severe gale, with thick fog, thousands 
of these birds were seen to arrive upon the sea-shore and sand- 
banks of the Northumbrian coast ; many of them so fatigued by 
the length of their flight, or perhaps by the unfavourable shift of 
wind, as to be unable to rise again from the ground, and great 
numbers were in consequence caught or destroyed. This flight 
must have been immense in quantity, as its extent was traced 
through the whole length of the coasts of Northumberland and 
Durham. There appears little doubt of this having been a migra- 
tion from the more northern provinces of Europe, from the 
circumstance of its arrival being simultaneous with that of large 
flights of woodcock, fieldfare and redwing.”* 
And I cannot forbear mentioning yet another most remarkable 
movement of a species of bird—till lately, not only a stranger in 
this country, but strange to the whole continent of Europe. I 
refer to the sandgrouse, of which an account was given by 
Professor Newton to the Biological Section of the British 
Association at the Bath Meeting in 1888.¢ This bird is a native 
of the large sandy deserts in Central Asia, where it was discovered 
by Pallas, the great German naturalist and traveller, towards the 
close of the last century. It had rarely been seen in Europe 
previous to 1863, when there was a great irruption of this bird 
spreading in various directions, and another equally great in 1888. 
It has occurred at times in various parts of England, Scotland and 
Treland, and in one instance at least has stopped to breed. In a 
letter from Professor Newton dated September, 1889, he men- 
tions having obtained “a young bird, not above two or three days 
old, caught in Scotland, and proving that the invaders had bred 
with us.” 
Much has been said, of course, as to the probable eauses of 
these large irruptions of sand grouse, over so wide a territory 
* British Ornithology, Part 1, p. 193. 
+ British Association Report, 1888, p. 703. 
