130 HILL BIRDS OF SCOTLAND 



Wattle scarlet. Bill black. Feet brown. Total length, 

 23-5 inches ; wing, 10'3 inches ; tail, 8'8 inches ; tarsus, 

 1*9 inches. 



During the summer an " eclipse " plumage is assumed, 

 and the black feathers of the back and sides of the head 

 and nape, and sometimes those of the upper mantle, are 

 replaced by a temporary plumage resembling that of the 

 Grey-hen. 



. Female. — Top of the head, neck, and back barred with 

 red brown and black, also wing coverts, scapulars, and 

 secondaries. Sides of the head, chin, and throat buff, 

 spotted with black and rufous, and fringed with white. 

 Legs almost white. Under tail coverts white or pale 

 rufous, barred with black and tipped with white. Tail 

 black with markings of red brown and tipped with white. 

 Total length, 17 inches ; wing, 8*9 inches ; tail, 4*5 inches ; 

 tarsus, 1-6 inches. The young when hatched have the 

 crown chestnut bordered with black, forehead and lores 

 buff, with a A-shaped patch of black behind the bill. 

 Two wide stripes of light brown surround the crown, and 

 there are also present two dark patches behind the eyes 

 and on the sides of the nape. Wing coverts and rump 

 chestnut. A black band extends down the back of the 

 neck. Cheeks and throat light yellow. Old Grey-hens 

 which have become barren or birds which perhaps were 

 shot in the ovary at times assume a partial male plumage, 

 and there is said to be on record the case of a Black-cock 

 assuming the dress of a Grey-hen. 



