46 ALLEN'S naturalist's LIBRARY. 



Adult Male. — Plumage mostly black ; the under tail-coverts 

 pure white. Total length, 23*5 inches; wing, 10-3; tail, 8*8; 

 tarsus, I "9. 



Adult Pemale. — Plumage mostly rufous and buff, barred with 

 black, the black bars on the breast being much coarser than 

 in the female of L. inlokosiewiczi^ and the tail shorter. Total 

 length, 17 inches; wing, 8-9 ; tail, 4-5 ; tarsus, i-6. 



Nestling. — Covered with yellowish down, patterned with 

 chestnut-brown on the upper-parts. 



Range. — The common Black Grouse is found in suitable 

 localities over the greater part of Europe and Northern and 

 Central Asia. To the west it extends to Great Britain, and 

 to the east to North-east Siberia, while southwards it ranges 

 to the Pyrenees, North Italy, North Ca icasus, the Tian Shan 

 Mountains, and Peking. It is found as high as 69° N. lat. 

 In some localities it is met with a little above the sea-level, 

 while in Central Asia it ranges to 10,000 feet. 



Changes of Plumage. — During the heavy autumn moult, which 

 takes place in July and August, when the males are entirely 

 devoid of tails and generally incapable of flying more than 

 a few yards at most, a temporary protective plumage, like 

 that of the female, clothes the head and neck, and the throat 

 becomes more or less white. The object of this change is 

 obvious, for the black head and neck of the male are con- 

 spicuous objects among the heather and rushes, but the rufous- 

 buff feathers, with their black bars and marks, harmonise per- 

 fectly with these surroundings and enable the defenceless 

 birds to escape the observation of their enemies. The barred 

 feathers of the head and neck are not cast and replaced by 

 black, till the rest of the plumage has been renewed, and the 

 bird is once more able to fly. 



The young 7nale^ unlike the Caucasian Black Grouse, attains 

 the black adult plumage at the first autumn moult, and by 

 November resembles the old male, but some of the finely 



