454 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



intonation which is almost impossible to describe.* I am afraid 

 I have not been more successful in conveying an idea of this very 

 peculiar call than any of the ten renderings from various sources 

 I have now before me ; but I think those who have been 

 accustomed to hear the note of the Snipe before referred to, will 

 be able to imagine that of the Sand Grouse. Whether or not 

 this species utters any sexual cry, or alarm-note, I have had no 

 opportunities of observation, but would refer the reader to Mr. 

 Macpherson's observations on the subject, in a recent paper by 

 that gentleman, which appeared in the ' Transactions of the 

 Cumberland and Westmoreland Association for the Advancement 

 of Science.' It is worthy of note, however, that a pair of birds 

 of this species in the gardens of the Zoological Society, as I am 

 informed by Mr. J. H. Gurney, jun., several times in his 

 presence uttered a low cooing note, which could not have been 

 heard many yards off ; and Mr. Sandford Parsons tells me that 

 a female which he had alive in his aviary from the 24th Sept. 

 to 10th Oct., was constantly running round the male uttering 

 a " curious disjointed ' purr,' rather like a cat," in which 

 the male would join ; but he states the sound was nothing like 

 that of a pigeon, and his opinion should have great weight. 



Nesting and Prospects of Naturalisation. — Many reports 

 have been circulated as to the finding of nests of this bird in 

 Norfolk, but the following is the only instance which has borne 

 investigation. Mr. Wm. Tolman, of South Pickenham, in the last 

 week of June, shot a Sand Grouse as it rose from the nest in that 

 parish, and took from it three eggs : these he describes as " much 

 like those of a water-hen in colour, but rather darker, largest 

 in the middle, and tapered off towards each end " ; one he sent 

 to Col. Applewhaite, the other two he unfortunately broke. Col. 

 Applewhaite tried to blow his specimen, but it broke in pieces ; 

 he thinks it would have hatched in three or four days. Although 

 unfortunately the eggs are not forthcoming, there can be no 

 question as to the good faith of both Col. Applewhaite and his 

 tenant Mr. Tolman ; and I think their description of the nest 

 and eggs, as well as a bird having been shot as it left the nest, 

 leaves little room for doubt in this instance. 



The generative organs were most fully-developed in the 

 earliest birds. Of two females killed near Thetford previous to 

 * Then it resembles the call-note of Tringa canutus. 



