i68 
NATURE NOTES 
land, both inland and near the sea. That the gunners of the 
districts in which they appeared did not allow them much rest, 
may be judged from the records of Mr. Stevenson, who reckoned 
that as many as seventy-five specimens were shot in Norfolk and 
Suffolk between the months of May and November. Professor 
Newton, who devoted much attention to the subject, estimated 
that the number of birds obtained in these two counties exceeded 
that of any other district of like size in Europe. The value of 
the birds was not at first appreciated by some of the gunners, 
for certain examples which fell to them were forwarded to the 
London poulterers. A male taken alive at Elveden, however, 
got into better hands. It was shot at and wounded by a man 
who said it “ shruck ” like a golden plover. Afterwards it was 
picked up among some long grass in which it had concealed 
itself, and brought to Professor Newton, who kept it alive by 
feeding it on canary-seed. He subsequently sent it to the 
Zoological Gardens, where, according to Dr. Churchill Babing- 
ton, it lived, in company with several others from China, for 
nearly a year. Of the large flock which crossed the North Sea 
in May, the last had vanished by the end of autumn. 
Small flocks of Pallas’s sand-grouse visited us in 1872 and 
1876; but it was not until 1888 that there was another large 
irruption of these birds into this country. Their arrival in that 
year is well remembered. They came over the sea in parties of 
varying numbers between May 6 and May 15; about a month 
after they had crossed the boundaries of Asia and entered 
Europe. Before any public announcement was made of their 
arrival here, a dilapidated specimen was picked up on the beach 
at Corton, in Suffolk, taken to a local naturalist, who handed the 
feathers to Sir Edward Newton. A few days later four sand- 
grouse were shot at Blundeston, a hamlet adjoining Corton, and 
the next morning the newspapers announced the return of the 
species to our shores. Like their forerunners, the flock of 1863, 
the arrivals of 1888 showed a marked preference for the Eastern 
Counties, large numbers of them being seen in Norfolk, Suflblk, 
Lincolnshire, and Yorkshire. Even in the marshy districts of 
these counties they were not uncommon, and a friend of mine, 
Mr. Last C. Farman, saw several flocks of them on the Norfolk 
P'ens. In consequence of the renewed interest displayed on the 
subject of this immigration, I communicated with Mr. Farman, 
who kindly sent me the following notes : — 
“ My first intimation of the arrival of Pallas’s sand-grouse in 
Norfolk was through a short note which appeared in the local 
Press respecting one of the species being picked up on Yarmouth 
beach in May, 1888. I had no idea at the time that a large flock 
had arrived on our shores. At the same time I was puzzled at 
the sight of several companies of these birds crossing the 
Iladdiscoe marshes. The flight of the sand-grouse so much 
resembles that of the golden plover that I mistook them for 
the latter birds. As I had never before seen such large flocks 
