BLACK GROUSE. 1(51 



men designate by the phrase Bottle-neck)^ to discover the cause 

 of alarm, there is no hope of getting within shot, for he imme- 

 diately calls, and all take wing that instant. I have shot this 

 species also in corn-fields, near to heather." 



Young. — The young are at first covered with close fine 

 down. The bill is umber browTi, its tip paler. The general 

 colour of the down is greyish-yellow ; the upper parts mottled 

 with black and chestnut ; the sides and fore part of the head 

 spotted with black, its upper part reddish-brown, not bordered 

 with black as in the Brown Ptarmigan. The sides and back 

 of the neck are minutely mottled with dusky ; the tarsi are 

 yellowish-grey, the toes pale greyish-brown. They are easily 

 distinguished from the young of the Brown Ptarmigan, by the 

 want of down on the toes, and by the lighter brown of the top 

 of the head. At first it is difficult to distinguish the males 

 from the females ; but by the time their first moult commences 

 they are very easily known. 



In the male, when its first plumage is complete, the colours 

 are as follows. The upper parts are pale reddish-brown, banded 

 with brownish-black ; the lower similar, but paler, the dark 

 markings narrower. The tail-feathers are also barred, as are 

 the quills, although minutely ; the secondaries broadly tipped 

 with white, their bases of the same colour. The abdominal 

 feathers are loose, grey and barred with dusky, as are the tarsal. 

 Those on the throat are greyish- white. The bill is brownish- 

 black ; the feet light brown. 



The young female differs little, having the colours merely 

 somewhat paler. 



Progress towards maturity. — The young male after the 

 first moult, resembles the adult ; but the feathers of the neck 

 are minutely barred with chestnut, as are the w4ng-feathers. 

 The white band on the wing is distinct. The tail-feathers are 

 curved outwards, but not so much as in the adult. As the 

 bird advances in age, the colours assume a deeper and purer 

 tint, the minute mottling of the dorsal and other feathers be- 

 coming less apparent at each successive moult. 



M 



