PKKLIMINAKY CLASSIFIED NOTES :>-r, 



movement*, but a chronological summary of the movement* affecting our area 

 may well be given under this head : 



1869. Several were obtained in different part* of the British Isle*, including 

 some in Kent, Norfolk, and Wales : the three Kentish specimens 

 constitute the earliest evidence of the species' occurrence, in the 

 British Isles. 



IMS. The first great invasion on record occurred in this year. From the south- 

 eastern countries of Europe the birds spread as far as the British 

 Trim The first British examples for this year wen seen in North- 

 umberland on 21st May, and on the same date the species was first 

 observed on Heligoland. During the summer it became abundant 

 in the British Isles, and was noted in the Shetland Isles, the Outer 

 Hebrides, Co. Donegal in Ireland, and other outlying parts, although 

 the majority of the records were from the eastern parts of Great 

 Britain. 



1864. The last British survivors of the previous year's invasion were recorded 

 from Wales in February. 



1872. Small flocks were reported from Northumberland and Ayrshire. 



1876. Sandgrouae were reported from Norfolk in May, and from Co. Kildare 

 (Ireland) in October. This alight invasion is of special interest, seeing 

 that in this year a new colony was successfully established on the 

 Kirghis steppes, between the Caspian Sea and the Volga. 



1888. Hie greatest known movement of these birds took place in this year. 



Towards the beginning of March it was reported from Eastern Russia 

 that the sandgrouse were already moving. As in 1863, the move- 

 ment spread all over Europe, and reached the British Isles in May. 

 Also as before, the birds were chiefly noted in the eastern parts of 

 Great Britain (it was estimated that 1600 to 2000 birds reached 

 Scotland), but some were recorded from such outlying parts as the 

 Shetland Isles, the Outer Hebrides, and Belmullet (Co. Mayo), the 

 extreme north-western point of Ireland. Many of the birds bred. 

 Large numbers were shot, and many others quitted our shores or 

 succumbed to the damp climate. 



1889. A few birds survived the winter, and a nestling was found in Moray in 



tho summer of this year. 



