8958 Birds. 
or two stragglers still here. One specimen was picked up by a farm-labourer in the 
parish of Upper Kilcot, towards the close of the late frost, about the second week in 
January: it was found lying under a stone wall in a wheat-field, and bad evidently , 
been starved to death, as the bird was in a miserably thin condition: it was taken to 
Mr. R. B. Hall, of Alderley, who has forwarded it to Leadbeater for preservation. It 
had probably been dead some two or three days when found, as the head, on one side near 
the eye, had been slightly gnawed by vermin, but the plumage was in other respects good. 
The man who found it was questioned as to whether there were any more about, and 
he replied that he had seen two more, live birds, in the same neighbourhood, exactly 
similar in colour and size, that when approached they rose with a shrill whistle and 
fled very fast close to the ground, skimming along much like a hawk, and were strong 
on the wing. I do not think there is any reason to doubt that these were two speci- 
mens which had survived the severe weather which ushered in the new year. 
Gloucestershire was one of the counties which did not contribute its quota of 
information at the time of the irruption of the sand grouse (at least I am not 
aware that it did); but for all that I feel quite confident, the more so now, that there 
has been a flock of these birds in this neighbourhoud throughout the whole of the late 
summer and autumn. I told you when I was last in town that what first gave rise to 
this supposition was one of my men, driving a little distance out of the town, put up, 
as he said, a large flock of “ doves,” more than ever he had seen before, that they shot 
across the road, and fled down towards a stone quatry some distance off; and one or 
two birds of the same description have been seen since then about the same place.— 
V. R. Perkins ; Wootton-under-Edge, February 9, 1864. 
Pallas’ Sand Grouse in Devonshire-—On the 11th of December a gamekeeper at 
Heanton Court, near Barnstaple, shot a Pallas’ sand grouse. The specimen was 
a female, old and in very good condition: it measured 14} inches in length, and in 
expanse of wing from tip to tip 24 inches. In colour it was beautifully mottled with 
black and buff, and underneath the throat was a narrow dark band, and a large dark 
chesnut patch under the vent and part of the breast; the quill-feathers and the beak 
were of a pale bluish or ash-colour; the eyes were dark hazel. Its weight was 
94 ounces. It was stuffed by Mr. Fraine, High Street, Barnstaple.-—J. ZL. Langdon 
Fulford ; Woodbury, Exeter. 
Pallas’ Sand Grouse near Barnstaple.—A few days before Christmas the keeper of 
Mr. Williams, of Heanton Court, about three miles from Barnstaple, killed a specimen 
of Pallas’ sand grouse. Only this single bird, which was a female, was seen.— Murray 
A. Mathews ; Weston-super-Mare, January 8, 1864. 
Pallas’ Sand Grouse in Cheshire-—Having seen a specimen of Pallas’ sand grouse 
(Syrrhaptes paradoxus), which was shot about four miles east of this town, on the 
28th of November, I have thought it as well to send a notice of it to the ‘ Zoologist, 
as showing the wide distribution of these persecuted little strangers. The person who 
received it for the purpose of mounting did not examine it to ascertain its sex, but 
from previous notices I think itisa male. The centre tail-feathers measured 33 inches 
beyond those next to them. I do not think it so certain as Mr. Sinclair (Zool. 8690) 
and Captain Hadfield (Zool. 8770) suppose that these birds would not breed in Great 
Britain. According to Mr. Sinclair's statement, the birds he killed were quite plump; 
this would show that the food they found was suitable. Captain Hadfield’s question, 
“Would they be allowed to lay an egg?” suggests the most probable reason why 
they are not likely to breed here. It might be asked, Where was the common 
