380 BIKDS OP NORFOLK. 



and on tlie banks of tlie river Peilio downwards, where 

 they were taken alive in clap-nets, and afforded an 

 abundant delicacy for the Anglo-French forces. In his 

 ''Notes on ornithology between Takoo and Peking, 

 North China" ("Ibis," 1861, p. 341), Mr. Swinhoe 

 writes, "The market at Tientsin was literally glutted 

 with them, and you could purchase them for a 

 mere nothing. The natives called them "Sha-chee" 

 or sand-fowl, and told me they were mostly caught 

 in clap-nets. After a fall of snow their capture 

 was greatest; for, where the net was laid, the 

 ground was cleared and strewed with small green 

 beans. The cleared patch was almost sure to catch 

 the eyes of the passing flocks, who would descend 

 and crowd into the snare. It only remained then for 

 the fowler, hidden at a distance, to jerk the strings, 

 and in liis haul he would not unfrequently take the 

 whole flock." The natives also described them as 

 abundant in summer " on the great plains of Tartary 

 beyond the great wall, where they breed in the sand." 

 Several gentlemen attached to the above-mentioned 

 expedition brought over live specimens of these sand- 

 grouse to England, and amongst others Mr. James 

 Stuart- Wortley presented no less than thirty-four to 

 the Zoological Society out of seventy-three which he 

 had originally started with. One of these birds, as 

 stated by Mr. Newton, laid several eggs in confinement. 

 Mr. Moore thus clearly points out the differences which 

 exist between the genus Syrrhajptes and other forms of 

 sand-grouse, though having a general similarity in 

 shape, length of wing, and shortness of foot. "The 

 legs, instead of being feathered only in front, are 

 entirely covered down to the extremity of the toes with 

 short dense feathers ; the hind toe is wantmg ; the toes 

 in front are much expanded, being united together 

 throughout their length, and forming a broad flat foot. 



