16 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



mile from the spot where the other hybrids had been found. 

 It was quite alone. It was in the finest feather, and weighed 

 I Ib. i 2^- oz. By Mr. Huthart's kind permission, I exhibited 

 a male hybrid killed on 26th August, and a female shot 

 upon the 1 6th of September, before a meeting of the British 

 Ornithologists Club upon 2Oth November 1 896. Their 

 identification as hybrids between the Red and Black Grouse 

 was accepted by all the members present. Mr. J. G. Millais 

 stated that he had previously examined about eight hybrids 

 of this cross, but had never previously seen a female of such 

 origin. I begged that any doubts might be ventilated, but 

 Mr. Millais vouched for the identification of these birds being 

 absolutely correct and indisputable. 



Having thus explained the circumstances under which 

 the specimens in question were procured, it may not be out 

 of place to add a few brief remarks upon the plumage of 

 these birds. I ought to say here that Mr. Huthart generously 

 presented me with a male and female hybrid for the Carlisle 

 Museum. The other two birds remain in his own possession. 

 Of the two male hybrids shot on the 26th of August, it 

 may be remarked at once that they show plenty of the Red 

 Grouse, both above and below. The tail in both of these 

 birds is well forked. The bird belonging to the Carlisle 

 Museum has the crown reddish brown, varied with broken 

 bars of black ; the nape is similar to the crown, but paler in 

 ground colour. The neck is yellowish buff, broadly barred 

 with black, but grouse-like feathers are moulting in to replace 

 the first feathers. The feathers of the back are yellowish buff, 

 barred closely with irregular black bars ; but rich brown 

 feathers, similar to those of the Red Grouse, are rapidly 

 replacing the earlier feathers. The lesser wing-coverts are 

 prettily varied with white. The secondaries closely resemble 

 those of a young Black Grouse, and are quite unlike those of 

 a Red Grouse. The feathers of the flanks are reddish buff, 

 barred with black ; but the greater portion of the breast is 

 covered with dark, rich feathers, much like those of the Red 

 Grouse. Each of these dark feathers has a white fringe, 

 which is most extended in the feathers which occupy the 

 centre of the breast. The under tail-coverts are black and 

 white, but are only half grown. The second male bird much 



