GREY PTARMIGAN. 193 



black feathers on the loral space ; the tail black, tipped with 

 white, its basal third white, the tw^o middle feathers entirely 

 white. The bill of both black, the claws greyish-brown, the 

 supraocular membrane very pale red. 



Length to end of tail of first 14i of second 14i 



Extent of wings '/ 24 " 25 



Wing from flexure '^ 7i^sj " y/^ 



Tail '' 4 rr 41^2 



Bill along the back '/ j\ // j\ 



Tarsus " 1^ 



Middle toe and claw '^ 1- 



2 " ^<2 



(Esophagus '/ 64 '/ 6i 



Stomach " ^J% " 1 ^^^ 



Intestine " 45 '/ 44 



Rectum, // 4 ,,4 



Cceca, » 22 " 20 



I never before observed the delicate and most beautiful blush 

 so remarkable in these two birds, and resembling that of the 

 lower parts of some Gulls and Terns, but it is probable that it 

 occurs more or less in all individuals in their pure winter 

 plumage. The soles are always bare, by which character this 

 species is easily distinguished from Lagopus saliceti. 



The winter plumage continues wdiite until the middle of 

 spring, when the head and neck first begin to assume the sum- 

 mer markings, that is, to be covered with feathers banded w^ith 

 yellow and black ; and blackish feathers barred with greyish- 

 white appear on the back. In the beginning of April, the 

 bird is in what may be called its spring plumage. A specimen 

 shot in Argyllshire about the 10th of April, and examined in 

 Edinburgh on the 15th of that month, 1827, was as follows : — 



Male in Spring. — The bill is brow^nish-black ; the iris brown ; 

 the supraocular membrane vermilion ; the claws brownish- 

 black, pale towards the end. The breast, excepting its fore part, 

 the belly, the sides, the quills, the wing-coverts, the lower tail- 

 coverts, the feathers of the throat, cheeks, and forehead, pure 



