Notes on Pallas s Sand-grouse in Scotland. 123 



siderably exceeded tin's fi^^aire ; we cannot, I tliink, set it 

 down at less than 200. The great majority, say about 85 

 per cent., succumbed to the destructive power of powder and 

 shot, while a good many — probably not far short of 10 per 

 cent. — met their death by coming in contact with telegraph 

 wires. In the Forth area, where no less than 35 of these 

 interesting visitors are known to have been killed, I find 

 that in eij^jht instances where averasje sized flocks were fired 

 into, one bird in about every five fell. In other districts, 

 however, the proportion killed would appear to have been 

 considerably less. Out of 81 cases where the sex is noted, 

 36 are males and 45 females. 



III. Condition and Food. — Though not fat, the birds, as 

 a whole, w^ere by no means in bad condition when they 

 arrived. My notes indicate that the average weight of 

 males was then about 8-|- oz., that of females about 8J oz., 

 but individual variations were considerable. For instance 

 four males, weighed on 17th and 18th May, were respectively 

 9|-, 8J, 8 J, and 8 oz., and four females, 9J, 8f , 8J, and 7f oz. 

 Improvement in their condition was soon apparent. Thus, 

 by the middle of June, males weighing 9 J, 9f, 10, and 10 oz., 

 had passed through my hands ; and three females, weighed in 

 September, were respectively 9, 9, and 9J oz. Heavier 

 examples are recorded by Mr Sim of Fyvie, who states in 

 the Scottish Naturalist for July, that males shot in Aberdeen- 

 shire on 26th May weighed lOJ oz., and females 10 oz. ; but 

 no wonder they stood the test of the scales so well, for we 

 are told that " the stomach of one contained 370 seeds of 

 barley and thousands of seeds of clover." 



As bearing on the then much discussed question, — the 

 probability of the birds breeding with us, — I dissected several 

 of both sexes, but did not find the reproductive organs in a 

 more advanced state than was to be expected at the season 

 of the year, quite apart from any serious intention the birds 

 may or may not then have had of nesting. The most 

 advanced case was that of a female — one of the earliest 

 victims — the ovary of which contained, in addition to the 

 usual mass of small ova, three measuring roughly 4, "3, and "2 

 of an inch. The writer of the article in tlie Elgin Courant of 



