Birds. 8711 



probably some of those that found their way to the shop-boards of 

 Mr. Baily and the other London poulterers." This bird, being only 

 slightly injured, was sent by Mr. Newton to the Zoological Gardens 

 in London, to be turned off with others of its species, obtained some 

 time since from China. 



June 6. — One male shot on the beach at Yarmouth. This bird, a 

 fine old male, now in the possession of Mr. J. H. Gurney, was killed 

 by a man named Nudd, who was working on the north beach at Yar- 

 mouth, and observed nine birds together, which he mistook for plovers. 



June 8. — A female on Breydon wall, near Yarmouth. " Two ser- 

 geants of the Militia Artillery," writes Captain Longe, '* were shooting 

 on Breydon, when they marked down about nine gray plovers (Squa- 

 tarola cinerea), which alighted on the stone wall of the embankment. 

 It was nearly nine o'clock in the evening, and Sergeant Crowther got 

 on to the bank and managed to get a shot into them ; he noticed one 

 bird larger than the rest, and singularly enough this bird was the only 

 one that fell to the gun. He brought it to me, and it proved to be a 

 female sand grouse in very good condition. It did not, however, 

 possess the long tail-feathers which all the other specimens I have 

 seen have done." 



June 10 and 11. — Eighteen birds, male and female, shot on Horsey 

 beach, near Yarmouth. Of this, the largest flock observed in our 

 eastern counties, Mr. Rising has kindly supplied me with the fol- 

 lowing particulars : — " On the 9th, while out walking on the beach 

 here, I saw a large flock of birds, more than forty, which I mistook 

 for golden plovers. They rose within fifty yards, and flew seawards, 

 returning back over my head at about twenty yards high, quietly 

 calling out 6 click, click,' and returned to the spot whence they rose. 

 I felt strongly impressed from their cry that they were a kind I had 

 never seen before, although I had not noticed then their peculiar tail- 

 feathers. On my way home the birds again rose, took a quiet circuit 

 round, making the same easy cry, and returned to the same spot." On 

 the following morning Mr. Rising went over to Yarmouth, where he 

 heard of the sand grouse just killed there, and felt sure that the 

 Horsey birds were of the same kind. Later in the day his son, 

 Captain Rising, went down to the beach, where he found the covey 

 in the same locality, and succeeded in bagging ten, of which six fell 

 to his second barrel, and two other winged birds were afterwards 

 found. On the same evening three more were secured, and three on 

 the following morning (11th), making in all eighteen specimens, males 

 and females in nearly equal numbers. Of this fine series all but four 



