136 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS 



RED GROUSE. Lagopus scoticus (Latham). Length, 

 14-5 in. ; wing, 8 in. ; tarsus, 1-5 in. 



Resident in Scotland, the north and north-west 

 of England, Wales, and Ireland : this is regarded 

 as the only species of bird peculiar to the British 

 Islands, but it has been introduced into Sweden, 

 Denmark, Belgium, and North Germany. It breeds 

 in Derbyshire, Lancashire, Yorkshire, and in every 

 county north of lat. 54°, reaching the Outer Hebrides 

 and Orkneys. On the introduction of Grouse into 

 Shetland, see my notes in The Field, May 4, 1889. 

 Attempts to naturalise the Red Grouse on Bagshot 

 Heath (Field, Jan. 14, 21, 1871), on Dartmoor and 

 Exmoor, 1820-25, have failed (see Zool, 1891, p. 

 235), nor have similar experiments made on the 

 hea,th lands of Suffolk and Norfolk at Brandon, 

 1854; Elveden, 1864-65; and Sandringham, 1878, 

 been more successful. See Manley, " Notes on 

 Game," 1880, and Babington, "Birds of Suffolk," 

 1884-86, p. 107 footnote. 



As to the distribution of the Eed Grouse in 

 the West of England and South Wales, it is 

 found on the Black Mountains in Herefordshire, 

 the hills of Monmouthshire, and the moors of 

 Radnor, Brecon, Carmarthen, and Pembroke ; also 

 in Glamorganshire, on the Glyn Mountains be- 

 tween Dinas and Cymmer. The Welsh name for 

 Grouse is Grugiar. Wanderers have been found 

 accidentally in Wiltshire, Somersetshire, and Wor- 

 cestershire. 



