214 TALKS ABOUT BIRDS 



has been passed to stop the shooting of these 

 interesting birds and give them a chance to 

 settle down among us if they can ever bear 

 our climate. 



It seems strange that all the sand-grouse 

 expeditions went west ; but, after all, what 

 else could they have done ? East of them 

 was the Pacific Ocean, and there was no one 

 to tell them that across the waste of water 

 there were the thousands of miles of beautiful 

 dry open prairies in America, with no sand- 

 grouse or any other birds at all like them 

 living there. If they tried to spread south in 

 Asia they would find the country in the 

 possession of other nations of sand-grouse 

 wherever it was fit for such birds to live in, 

 so that there was nothing left for them but to 

 go west, and west they went accordingly. 



When I was living in India I got some view 

 of a bird invasion myself. Thousands of 

 water-fowl of all sorts are netted by the natives 

 to supply the Calcutta market, and in 

 one winter, 1896, I found some ducks were 

 being brought in which I did not know. In 

 looks they were between the common wild 

 duck and the little diving tufted duck ; they 



