8690 



Birds. 



was discovered on the 8th inst. on the farm of Westerseat, near Wick. A single spe- 

 cimen, a male, was shot by a boy, who observed the grouse feeding among the young 

 braird in a field of oats. They were subsequently seen on the neighbouring farm of 

 Noss, but no more specimens have up to this time been procured. Their immunity in 

 this respect is to be ascribed to the circumstance that those who first observed the birds 

 supposed them to be either partridges or plovers, the former of which they somewhat 

 resemble while on the ground, while their flight bears a close resemblance to that of 

 the golden plover. The specimen referred to, which excited much interest among the 

 curious in this quarter, has beeu preserved by Dr. Sinclair, and added to a very fine 

 collection of Caithness birds possessed by that gentleman. — H. Osborne, jun. ; Wick, 

 Caithness, June 23, 1863.—' Field.' 



Pallas' Sand Grouse in Ireland. — It will be interesting to your readers to know 

 that the sand grouse, which have been seen in so many parts of Great Britain, have 

 appeared on the north-west coast of Ireland. Walking in a rabbit warren by the sea- 

 side one evening I came suddenly on a covey of thirteen or fourteen birds, which got 

 up, and, making a circle of three or four hundred yards, flew almost over my head, 

 and dropped on the sands close under the bent hills. They then allowed me to come 

 within about thirty yards of them, and flew inland. — W. Sinclair ; Drugoobe, Donegal. 

 —'Field: 



PS. After writing on Tuesday last I formed a closer acquaintance with the covey 

 of sand grouse which I mentioned in my letter of that day — one bird, a male, having 

 been killed, and another, a female, wounded and made prisoner, on Wednesday. The 

 captive seems quite contented, was curiously familiar from the first, feeds freely on 

 grits, canary seed, groundsel, &c, and is fond of washing and splashing in a pan of 

 water. The male bird had in his crop small seeds and tops of grass. They were both 

 remarkably plump and sound on the breast. Before firing at them on Wednesday I 

 had a good opportunity of observing them as they ran feeding along a road in the 

 warren. In pace and action, more resembling pigeons than grouse, they fly something 

 like plover, appear very strong on the wing, and carry a great deal of shot. The figure 

 of Pallas' sand grouse in Sir W. Jardine's book, which a correspondent quotes, is good, 

 but the colouring quite outrageous. I see many people exclaim against shooting these 

 birds, or similar wanderers, under the idea that they might become naturalised in this 

 country. I confess I do not agree with them, or think it at all likely that natives of 

 lands in every way differing from ours should be likely to settle or flourish under cir- 

 cumstances so opposed to their previous habits. It appears to me much more advisable 

 to make them available for scientific purposes, in cabinets of Natural History, where 

 they will be seen by thousands. Very strange, indeed, is the impulse which has 

 impelled the sand grouse to such an unprecedented flight, and a very curious and 

 interesting subject (very little known, too), the general and partial migrations of the 

 feathered tribes. — W. Sinclair ; Jane 19, 1863. 



Pallas' Sand Grouse in Ireland.— A brace of sand grouse were shot on the coast 

 at Nairn, near here lately. I obtained both specimens (male and female), and have 

 preserved thein. — M. B. Cox ; The Glebes, Glenties, Co. Donegal. 



Pallas' Sand Grouse in Hanover. — In the ' Field ' of May 30 I read an account 

 of a covey of sand grouse having been seen in the Isle of Walney. It is a remarkable 

 coincidence that during the last month a winged bird of the same species was picked 

 up in this neighbourhood, having broken his wing by flying against a telegraph wire 

 — probably a thing unknown in his native steppes. About a week ago a covey of eight 



