392 BIRDS OF NORFOLK. [APPENDIX B.] 



April 16th, 1888, identified at Mr. Gunn's shop, where I 

 also saw them shortly after, two parrot crossbills which 

 had been killed a few days previously near Norwich. 

 There can be no question as to the accuracy of Mr. 

 Gurney's determination of the species, but it is remark- 

 able that, although several other crossbills were killed 

 in the same locality about that time, two only proved to 

 be L. pityopsittacus. 



The Rev. Julian Tuck was kind enough to send me 

 for examination a very large example of L. curvirostra, 

 which he thought might belong to this species; the 

 sternum in all its measurements was exactly inter- 

 mediate between those of the two species figured at the 

 foot of page 210, vol. ii., of the 4th edition of Yarrell's 

 " British Birds." 



Syrrhaptes paradoxus, PALLAS'S SAND GROUSE. 

 The remarkable irruption of this species into Great 

 Britain, in 1863, was so far as Norfolk is concerned 

 very fully dealt with by Mr. Stevenson; first in the 

 "Zoologist" for 1863, pp. 8708 and 8849, and sub- 

 sequently in the present work (i., p. 376) ; but a much 

 more extensive influx occurred in the year 1888, of 

 which I shall now have to speak very briefly. Between 

 the years 1863 and 1888 I am not aware that any 

 occurrence in England was recorded, but while inves- 

 tigating the various instances in the latter year, with a 

 view of ascertaining the earliest date on which examples 

 were seen in this county, I was surprised to learn from 

 Mr. E. J. Boult, of Potter Heigham, that on the 27th 

 May, 1876, he had seen fifteen or twenty of these birds 

 rise from the south sand hills, at Winterton, and go 

 away at a great pace to the northward. Although dili- 

 gently searched for they were not seen again. I have 

 not the slightest hesitation in accepting Mr. Boult' s 

 statement as perfectly accurate ; and it is further borne 

 out by the fact that in the same year examples were 

 obtained both in Ireland and Modena, a circumstance of 

 which Mr. Boult was not aware. 



In 1888 the sand grouse arrived in this county on 

 the 13th May, and soon spread in every direction, certain 

 districts, however, appearing to offer superior attrac- 

 tions, and to these they seemed to be remarkably 



