> f- 2L) re - 
PALLAS'S SAND GROUSE IN LANCASHIRE. 53 
north-westerly direction. All those birds referred to, with the 
exception of that seen on Blackstone Edge, were met with mm the 
low-lying district of West Lancashire, chiefly on the moss-land 
Those seen near St. Michael’s were partial to oat-fields, and were 
seldom, if ever, observed on the old grass-land. Cuthbert Baines 
told me that the birds were wild, and would not allow him to 
approach within 150 yards in the open; he had to creep down 
the moss-ditches to get within shot. The birds rose quickly 
the instant his head appeared above the edge of the ditch, and 
would not permit him to take the ‘“‘ pot” shot invariably adopted 
with Dotterel. After being flushed, whether shot at or not, 
they usually flew a few hundred yards and returned in a short 
time to the same field; in this respect, as well as in their 
partiality for oat-fields, resembling Dotterel. They do not carry 
away much shot; all were killed with No. 10 at about thirty 
yards distance. On September 6th I examined five birds in the 
Western Aviary at the Zoological Society’s Gardens. The gait 
is such as one would expect from the shape of the feet, and 
reminded me of that of a rat. 
These Sand Grouse would, I think, have little difficuity in 
finding an abundant supply of suitable food on our moss-land. 
In addition to grain (any kind of which it appears the Sand Grouse 
will eat), most of the moss-land is full of the seeds of goose-foot 
and various species of knot-grass (Polygonum); seeds of the 
latter, with germinating power unimpaired, are found buried 
several feet in the peat, and are constantly being brought to the 
surface as the land is worked. Seeds of the goose-foot (Cheno- 
podium album), a very common weed, were found in the crops of 
the Lancashire-killed specimens, and it appears that the seeds 
of a nearly-allied plant, Agriophyllum gobicum, formed the bulk 
of the food of the Sand Grouse in Central Asia. Six of the birds 
killed at St. Mtchael’s have passed, in the flesh, through my 
hands; and the contents of the crop of the other were sent to 
me by Mr. Nicholson. I forwarded the crops and gizzards to 
Mr. Robert Holland, Frodsham, who very kindly furnished me 
with the following particulars :— 
1. Crop: red clover, a few seeds of Italian rye-grass, and knotgrass 
(Polygonum persicaria or lapathifolium). Gizzard: half the bulk, small 
fragments of white quartz; seeds, knotgrass, red clover, and alsyke. 
