62 THE RE-APPEARANCE OF PALLAS'S SAND GROUSE.
the 'Ibis' for April, 1864 (vol. vi., pp. 185—222), and from it the above facts are
taken. Prof. Newton computes the actual numbers of the invading host at
not less than 700, and he adds that, after having conversed and corresponded with
many of his ornithological brethren, he was unable to give a satisfactory reason
for this extraordinary visitation. Some of the specimens reached the west coast of
Ireland, the Shetlands, and even the Foeroes; the most westerly locality recorded
with precision being Naran, 8° 26' W. There are but three Essex notes : (1) One
male and two females killed at Mersea on 29th June (?) ; (2) one male and one
female shot at Saffron Walden on 7th June; (3) one killed at Forest Gate, no
date recorded. In the 'Zoologist' (1873, page 3,688), the late Dr. C. R. Bree
recorded the addition of the three Mersea specimens to his collection, with that of
another female killed at Peldon. In Stevenson's 'Birds of Norfolk' (i., 394),
30 males and 30 females are recorded from Norfolk, and eight males and seven
females from Suffolk between May 23rd and November. Mr. Stevenson says :
'Excepting only in one or two instances these birds were found, in the above
counties, either close to the sea on the sand-hills and shingle or in the immediate
vicinity, feeding in grass fields or on open waste lands.' The paucity of Essex
records is probably and unfortunately due to the absence of observers. After giving
his concise history of the 1863 invasion, Prof. Newton continues: 'I have
now to declare, as strongly as I am able, the feeling of utter disgust with which I
have all along regarded the brutal and unnecessary slaughter of these harmless
immigrants. It has made the collecting and arranging of materials for this
account, which, though a laborious would have been otherwise a congenial task,
from beginning to end irksome to me' (loc. cit., page 221).
"After the lapse of a quarter of a century we now have another invasion of
Western Europe by this interesting and most beautiful bird, and apparently it is that
of a greater host than in 1863. We hope that they may find better protection from
the wholesome teachings of naturalists' field clubs, and under the general influence
of the Wild Birds' Protection Act. Essex has already been visited by these dis-
tinguished strangers ; Mr. Edward Catchpool saw a covey of twelve or thirteen in
a field of young mangold at Ardleigh, three miles from Colchester, on May 30th,
1888 ('Field,' 2nd June, page 797). While we shall greatly welcome facts con-
cerning this new invasion, we must implore our Essex naturalists to observe
without destroying; how greatly would the news that this Tartaric species had
been suffered to breed in our county be welcomed !
"The bird is fully described and well figured in the fourth edition of 'Yarrell's
Birds,' by Mr. Howard Saunders ; it was quite unnoticed in the previous edition.
There are coloured plates of it in the 'Ibis' for 1860, in Dresser's 'Birds of
Europe,' in Gould's 'Birds of Great Britain,' in Stevenson's 'Birds of Norfolk,'
and in Beverley R. Morris's 'British Game-birds and Wildfowl.'1 It is a hand-
some species, and should be readily recognised ; its flight is swift, and attended
by a peculiar sound, like the Golden Plover; it assembles in flocks numbering
from three to 100 ; it does not perch upon trees, but passes the day in shallow pits
scratched in the sand or soil, and the eggs are laid in similar hollows, with scarcely
any attempt at a nest. The food of the Sand Grouse is mainly the seed of reeds
and shore plants. The flesh is reputed to be of little value for the table, being
very insipid.—Edward A. Fitch, Maldon, June 7th, 1888."
1 A very interesting pamphlet on the bird, with a beautiful coloured plate, has just been
prepared by Mr. W. B. Tegetmeier, F.Z.S. It may be had from Mr. Horace Cox, 346, Strand,
London, price one shilling.—Ed.