SUMMER ON THE MOORS. 49 



experienced on receiving (on May 81st) a newly -killed pair 

 of these strangest and most lovely of birds. They had just 

 been shot in North Northumberland, and were accompanied 

 by a letter, asking what they were, and stating that a flock 

 of sixty had arrived on May 6th, but that " as they were 

 destroying his crop, the farmer had got leave to shoot them." 

 The crops of these two contained a few grains of barley, and 

 a quantity of what certainly looked very like turnip seed ; 

 however, on planting some of the latter, it proved to be the 

 common field-runch, a useless noxious weed. Thus, so far 

 from destroying his crop, the Sand-grouse were really assist- 

 ing the farmer to clean his land. 



PALLAS'S SAND-GROUSE (SYRRHAPTES PARADOXUS). MALE. 



Nestling on the sand, as is their habit. 



The great extent of waste sand-links in North Northumber- 

 land appeared to offer the wanderers at least as congenial a 

 nesting-haunt as they were likely to find on British soil ; and 

 we did all we could to have the birds spared ; but I fear 

 this has been of no avail, for they had all left the spot by 

 June 24th ; though others were observed there later in the 

 autumn, perhaps fresh arrivals. 



By the middle of June the nesting season of the hardier 

 moor-birds is nearly over. On the 3rd we found two 

 Curlews' nests ; one contained two rotten eggs and two 

 young birds, grey-mottled, rather ungainly creatures, which, 

 as their habit is, had left the nest on our approach, and lay 

 squatted in the heather hard by. The other nest had 



