RASORES. 139 



During the summer of 1863 a good deal of interest 

 was excited by the appearance in this country of 

 great numbers of this Sandgrouse. These rare wan- 

 derers from the steppes of Tartary appeared first on 

 the eastern coast, and gradually dispersed themselves 

 over the whole face of the country. 



Mr. Henry Stevenson, in an interesting paper in 

 * The Zoologist ' for September, 1863, records the 

 capture of no less than sixty-three specimens in 

 Norfolk and Suffolk alone, and expresses an opinion 

 that the birds which there appeared so simulta- 

 neously were members of one large flock, which had 

 become scattered by frequent alarms. 



I am enabled to include this species in the present 

 Catalogue from the fact that, in the month of July, 

 1863, two of these birds were killed, at a double 

 shot, by Mr. John Read, near South Mimms. They 

 were both males, and in perfect plumage, except 

 that in one specimen one of the elongated tail- 

 feathers had been shot away. They were excessively 

 plump, and their crops were filled with the seeds of 

 red clover and common plantain. In the gizzards 

 were the same two kinds of seeds in a semi-commi- 

 nuted state, and mixed with an abundance of small 

 semi-transparent gravel stones, scarcely larger than 

 the seeds. 



The capture of these two birds is recorded by 

 Mr. Newman, in 'The Zoologist' (p. 8685), in 

 which periodical will be found various particulars 



