GROUSE 7 



only assume their full splendour of tint. Both blackcocks and grey- 

 hens, especially in Siberia, not unfrequently show a large but 

 variable admixture of white in those parts of the plumage which are 

 normally dark ; and this same tendency towards albinism is also dis- 

 played by the occasional occurrence of drab-coloured greyhens. The 

 assumption of the male plumage by barren individuals of the latter is 

 also not uncommon in this species, as in certain other game-birds. 

 The interbreeding of this species with the capercaillie has been already 

 mentioned ; and, what is more remarkable, hybrids between it and the 

 grouse are also known. Weights of between 2 lbs. 1 1 oz. and 3 lbs. 

 are recorded for Scotch blackcock, and of 3 lbs. for greyhens. The nest 

 is very similar to that of the capercaillie, being a slight hollow in the 

 ground among bracken, sparsely lined with leaves. From six to ten 

 eggs, very similar to those of the capercaillie, are usually found in a 

 nest, but as many as sixteen are on record ; the latter number being 

 probably the joint product of two hens. Blackcock-shooting lasts from 

 August 20 till December 10 except in Somerset, Devon, and the New 

 Forest, where the period is from September i till December 10. 



Grouse Whether or no the name grouse was originally applied 



(Lag-opus seotieus). ^^ ^he present species or to the blackcock, universal 

 usage associates it with the latter, which is the 

 grouse par excellence, and, consequently, so far as British birds are 

 concerned, needs no prefix ; the title, red grouse, thus being superfluous. 

 Nevertheless, the British species is not the type of the genus Lagopiis ; 

 that position being held by the ryper or willow-grouse (Z. albus) of 

 Scandinavia. The members of this genus differ from the capercaillie 

 and blackcock not only by the thick feathering of the legs and toes 

 and the presence of sixteen (in place of eighteen) feathers in the tail, 

 which is of medium length, but likewise in the important fact that the 

 cock pairs with a single hen instead of having a whole party of females 

 under his protection. 



The grouse is one of the few birds recognised by all ornithologists 

 as quite peculiar to the British Islands. It is, however, in reality 

 nothing more than a local race of the continental ryper or willow- 

 grouse, which, from the nature of the climate of its habitat, has lost 

 the habit of turning white in winter, and has also acquired certain 

 peculiarities in coloration and in voice. In retaining the dark summer 

 plumage at all seasons of the year, the grouse is indeed different from 

 all other representatives of the genus Lagopus. This alone can, how- 

 ever, scarcely be regarded as a ground for specific distinction, any 



