Birds. 



8769 



Silver Pheasant living and thriving after the loss of half her Lower Mandible. — I 

 bave a common silver pheasant hen which had the misfortune, eight or nine months 

 ago, to lose, by accident, half of her lower mandible. No one expected that she could 

 live long in that state ; she was, however, allowed, almost as an experiment, to run as 

 usual with the other poultry ; and to my great surprise she has not diminished in size, 

 and lays like the rest. She can peck nothing off a hard surface. — George Roberts ; 

 Lofthouse, Wakefield, August 17, 1863. 



Pallas' Sand Grouse near Beverley. — On the 29th instant I added to my collection 

 a richly-plumaged male specimen of this interesting bird, which had been caught alive 

 within three miles of Beverley. I bought it of Mr. J. P. Martin, gamekeeper, of 

 Cottingham, near Beverley ; and his account of its capture was as follows : — Five 

 weeks ago, or during the last week of July, Mr. John Stephenson, farmer, of Skidby, 

 near Beverley, brought to me a living specimen of this rare bird. He stated that he 

 had caught it on his own farm at Skidby, for it was so emaciated and weak that it 

 could not fly. It was alone when found. When brought to me it was so wasted that 

 I could feel no flesh on the breast-bone. There was no mark of gunshot or other 

 injury. I kept it alive for a day or two, but as it would not take food I killed and 

 stuffed it." Mr. T. Ferguson, of Cottingham, was present when Stephenson brought 

 the living bird to Martin, and he corroborates all that Martin stated to me. — W. W. 

 Boulton ; Beverley, Yorkshire, August 31, 1863. 



Pallas' Sand Grouse near Beverley. — Mr. Ferguson, of Cottingham, near Beverley, 

 informs me that his brother, Captain J. Ferguson, has just had a pair of these birds 

 mounted. They can now be seen at his residence at Walkington, near Beverley. They 

 were shot in the Riding, but I have not yet seen Captain Ferguson to ascertain exactly 

 where. I am also informed by Mr. Ferguson that a labouring man in his brother's 

 employ declares that he has more than once lately seen a bird, answering to the de- 

 scription of Pallas' sand grouse, picking on the road alone, near to a village called 

 Hunsley, about four or five miles from Skidby. He said that when frightened it flew 

 away, " like a swallow," and, wheeling round, alighted in a neighbouring field. 

 This would be about the same time that Martin's specimen was taken. I have not 

 since heard of this specimen (if it really was one) having been shot, unless it was the 

 identical specimen brought to Martin. — Id. 



Note on Pallas' Sand Grouse. — I am confident there is not an ornithologist that 

 will not feel pleasure in learning there are now, and have been for many years, in the 

 aviary at Windsor, several of those beautiful little birds, the sand grouse, particularly 

 as they were the properly of the good Prince Consort. I received this information by 

 the gracious command of Her Majesty, through the Hon. Sir Charles B. Phipps, in a 

 communication lately received. — S. P. Saville ; Dover House, Cambridge. 



Note on Pallas Sand Grouse. — So little being known with regard to the habits of 

 these strangers, and there being seemingly a diversity of opinion respecting their edible 

 qualities, &c, I am induced to give the following short extract from my note on the 

 sand grouse, or rock pigeon, of Southern India (Zool. 5748), which, if not identical, 

 closely resembles it, and is probably the " Gelinote des Indes" of Sonnerat: — 

 " Strange to say, this diminutive grouse or ptarmigan is held in no estimation by the 

 Indian sportsman ; why or wherefore I never could discover, but think it may partly 

 have arisen from its being most unaccountably and absurdly misnamed pigeon, for we 

 know there is, after all, much in a name. The flesh is dark and game-like, with 



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