8684 



Birds. 



in finding an abundance of congenial food on our heaths. Although smaller in ap- 

 pearance, I should say they would weigh nearly as much as a partridge, and their 

 plumpness would render them a delicious bird for the table. I noticed that the flesh 

 on the breast, like that of some of our most favourably known game birds, is of two 

 colours, dark and white, the whitest flesh being closest to the bone. I take it that this 

 is a very good sign of the bird's fitness to form a delicacy for the table. I may 

 observe that there is an excellent figure of the bird, from the pencil of Mr. Wolf, in 

 the second volume of the ' Ibis.' — Murray A. Mathews; Weston-super-Mare, May 29, 

 1863. 



PS. Since writing about the specimen of Pallas' sand grouse which was shot at 

 Aldershot, I have received another, also a hen bird, and also shot by my brother near 

 the camp. On the occasion when this last bird was killed a covey of nine were seen. 

 The birds were very wild, and only allowed one long shot to be obtained at them. 

 Among the feathers of the first bird my brother sent me, and clinging to the skin, I 

 noticed a very singular tiek, of large size, the body of a leaden blue colour, with lighter 

 veins; the legs and sucking apparatus of a bright lake colour. Another singular 

 tiling about Pallas' sand grouse I omitted to mention in my first communication is the 

 under surface of the feet. This is covered with a rough serrated skin, which may well 

 be described by comparing it to the surface of a large rasp: it is an admirable pro- 

 vision foi\euabling the bird to run with ease upon the hot desert sands. Mr. Bree, in 

 his 'Birds of Europe,' vol. iii., does not mention this peculiarity of the under skin of 

 the foot as pertaining to the genus Pterocles. I should be glad to know if it is con- 

 fined to Pallas' bird alone of the different species of sand grouse. My brother writes 

 to me that the birds he saw ran with great rapidity upon the ground, and that they 

 skulked very low, seeming at a distance to be more like rats than birds. — Id.; May 30, 

 1863. 



Pallas'* Sand Grouse near London. — I killed last evening a very fine specimen of 

 the Pallas' sand grouse in this neighbourhood. It was alone, and seemed tired, as I 

 got within a few yards of it before it took wing. It runs like a golden plover, and 

 resembles the grouse in getting up, uttering a plaintive note. It is in the hands of 

 Mr. Argent for preserving. — J. Withers; Forest Gale, Essex. 



[This example has but one elongated feather in the tail, and none in the wings. — 

 Edward Newman]. 



Pallas' Sand Grouse in Essex. — Mr. Cater, the birdstuffer of this town, has just 

 shown me three specimens, one male^and two females, of Syrrhaples paradoxus, which 

 were shot on the 29tb ult., on our Essex coast, at Mersea. They appeared very lame, 

 and allowed three hours to elapse while the gun was brought. The following is an 

 extract from a letter from the slayer of them :— " I shot the three birds in a ploughed 

 field on my farm, about a quarter of a mile from the sea shore. They seemed to come 

 direct across the German Ocean. I only saw the three. They pitched down within 

 thirty yards of myself and five men. They kept constantly running about, picking up 

 insects. I directly sent for my gun. They let me get within forty yards, when I 

 killed one with the first barrel and two with the second." They are in very good con- 

 dition. — C. R. Bree; Colchester. — ' Field.' 



Pallas' Sand Grouse in Essex. — Two very fine specimens, male and female, of this 

 bird were shot on the 7th inst. by a labourer, on a farm occupied by Mr. Nutten, about 

 two miles from this town. They are now in the possession of Mr. Travis, naturalist, 

 who informs me that the crops of these birds contained nothing but lares, and that the 



