ON THE CHANGES OF PLUMAGE IN THE RED GROUSE 133 



season a very complete autumn moult takes place ; the quills, 

 tail, and feathers on the feet being entirely renewed. As 

 already mentioned, the males, no matter to what type they 

 belong, bear at this season a much closer resemblance to one 

 another than they do in their winter plumage. 



In most examples the feathers of the back, scapulars, 

 rump, and upper tail-coverts are black margined and irreg- 

 ularly barred with bright tawny buff; in most cases the 

 bars cross the feathers more or less transversely (Plate V. 

 Fig. 4), but in some they are more or less concentric and 

 parallel with the marginal band, giving the upper parts a 

 scaled appearance (Plate V. Figs. 6 and 7). 



The feathers of the chest are rather widely barred with 

 buff or rufous-buff and black (Plate V. Fig. I i), and some 

 of the flank feathers are more narrowly barred with the 

 same colours. The rest of the under parts vary according 

 to the type to which the individual belongs. In a specimen 

 shot on the 6th June the autumn moult has commenced on 

 the upper mantle, so that three different sets of feathers can 

 be seen on the back at once, viz. the new autumn, the old 

 winter, and the old autumn plumages, both the latter very 

 clearly showing the result of wear and tear (Plate V. 

 Figs. 1-3). 



The first feathers of the winter plumage begin to appear 

 about the beginning of September. 



Adult Male (Winter- Summer Plumage}. General colour 

 above black, with finely mottled bars of dark chestnut 

 (Plate V. Fig. 5) ; head, neck, and chest (Plate V. Fig. 12) 

 mostly dark chestnut finely marked with black ; mantle, 

 lower back, rump, upper tail-coverts, and flanks with narrow 

 transverse bars and vermiculations of black and dark chest- 

 nut, the latter colour usually predominating. Generally a 

 greater or less number of autumn feathers are retained, and 

 are conspicuous among the new winter plumage. 



The general tone of each bird varies of course according 

 to the type to which it belongs. When once the winter 

 moult is complete, no change whatever takes place in the 

 plumage till the following autumn moult, except that the 

 feathers become bleached and worn at the extremities. 

 In summer the white spots on the under parts, if present, are 



