NOTES AND QUERIES. 385 



" Heredity in Cats with an extra number of toes " was the subject of 

 an interesting address by Mr. E. B. Poulton. 



Papers were also read by Dr. Gadow on " The nature of the Geological 

 Terrain as an important factor in the Geographical Distribution of Animals," 

 and by Mr. J. J. Lister on " The Natural History of Christmas Island." 



On September 6th, Professor Newton, M.A., F.R.S., addressed the 

 Section, " On the Irruption of Pallas 's Sand Grouse, Syrrhaptes paradoxus." 

 He began by referring to the fact that at Newcastle, twenty-five years 

 before (almost to the very day), he made a communication to the Section 

 with this same title, and then hazarded the statement that the irruption of 

 1863, with which he then dealt, would be repeated. Events, and especially 

 those of the present year, have justified that anticipation. After briefly 

 tracing the early history of, and pointing out the wonderful peculiarity of, 

 this very singular form of bird, he recounted its various visitations to 

 Europe. In 1859 it was observed at seven places — Vilna, Jutland, Holland, 

 Norfolk, North Wales, Kent, and Perpignan in France. In 1863 was the 

 former great irruption, which extended in the north to the Nord Fjord in 

 Norway and to the Faeroes, to Donegal in Ireland to the westward, and to 

 the southward to Biscarolles in France and Rimini in Italy. In 1872 a 

 flock was observed in two places — Beal in Northumberland and Girvan in 

 Ayrshire. In 1876 birds were seen near Winterton in Norfolk, and near 

 Modena in Italy (both in June), and in the county Kildare in Ireland (in 

 October). The irruption of the present year had been on a scale at least 

 as large as that of 1863, and it had occurred at least a month earlier. So 

 far as information was at present received, it had not extended quite so 

 far to the northward, the Hardanger Fjord in Norway being the furthest 

 point, but it had reached further to the westward (Belmullet in the 

 county Mayo), and much further to the southward — Orvieto in Italy 

 and the Albufera of Valencia in Spain — its first appearance in that 

 kingdom — but information of further extension in all three quarters might 

 still be expected. It was shown on a map that all these visitations were 

 essentially similar in direction, and all seemed to have the same "radiant 

 point " — on which it was hoped that Russian observers might be able to 

 throw some light. As to the causes of these wonderful movements, the 

 author said it behoved us to be very cautious. For himself he was not 

 inclined to accept the suggestion of their being due to any "convulsion of 

 nature," as some supposed, but rather to stand by that which he had before 

 made — namely, that the impulse came from a redundant population striving 

 for the means of existence. Into the details of the present irruption there was 

 no time to go, for there were observations by the hundred. As to the breeding 

 of the bird in this country, a very unworthy trick had been attempted — 

 perhaps in more than one instance — to pass off eggs of foreign origin as 

 having been laid in England. However, the author said that two cases had 



