HYBRIDS BETWEEN THE CAPERCAILLIE AND PHEASANT 19 



hooked bill, and the conspicuous white patch near the shoulder 

 are all pronounced characteristics of the Capercaillie. The 

 HEAD is that of a cock Capercaillie, but has the large 

 naked vermilion space around the eyes of the male 

 Pheasant. The tarsus agrees with that of the bird already 

 described. The tail is cuneate, but not pronouncedly so, 

 as in the Pheasant. In colour, the HEAD has the crown 

 and hind neck green with dull yellow margins, the sides 

 of the head green with dull yellow spots. BREAST dark 

 glossy green. Feathers of the ABDOMEN and FLANKS 

 barred with green and dull yellow, the green predominating. 

 UPPER SURFACE resembles that of the cock Capercaillie, 

 but the vermiculations are coarser and of a dull yellowish 

 tint. WlNGS a mixture of buff and black, the primaries 

 on their outer margins barred with pale brown, as in the 

 Pheasant. The TAIL FEATHERS black, barred with pale 

 brown. The TARSUS is only feathered on its upper part, the 

 lower portion being scutellate, with a nodule or rudimentary 

 spur on its hinder surface. The TOES are those of a Pheasant. 



The second example, now in the fine collection of the 

 Hon. Mr. Rothschild at Tring, was, according to the informa- 

 tion supplied to M. Suchetet (op. cit. p. 62), killed in a 

 wild state at Aiden [Arden], Loch Lomond, Scotland, in 

 December 1890, " in a lonely forest far from any pheasantry." 

 It will be observed that this specimen was not only obtained 

 in the same locality as Mr. Lumsden's, but also that it was 

 shot a few weeks after the capture of that example. I am 

 told, too, that Mr. Rothschild's bird closely resembles Mr. 

 Lumsden's specimen both in form and coloration, and there 

 can be little doubt, I think, that these birds were brothers. 

 M. Suchetet is wrong, however, when he states (pp. 622, 944) 

 that Mr. Rothschild's specimen is the one figured by Mr. 

 Millais in his "Game Birds" (p. 20). 



The third specimen is a young male, and was shot at 

 Monymusk, in Mid-Aberdeenshire, on the property of Sir 

 Arthur Grant, Bart., in whose possession it now is, " at the 

 end of the past year" (1895). This bird was recorded in 

 this magazine ("Annals," 1896, p. 123) by Mr. George Sim, 

 ho thus describes it : " The bird is much above the usual 



