Tetrao urogallus and its Allies. 129 



inhabiting central Germany ; and, finally, (3) Tetrao crassi- 

 rostris (which he declares is almost as large as T. major, 

 with a thick and strong bill and a very long tail), inhabiting 

 Carinthia and, probably, the Tyrol and Switzerland. 



As a matter of fact neither of the last two-mentioned 

 forms appears to be valid. I have, at any rate, no hesitation 

 in uniting T. major with T. urogallus*, while, should further 

 research prove T. crassirostris to be really distinct, it is 

 certain that the characters enumerated above will not serve 

 to distinguish it. Unfortunately we have very little material 

 from the mountains of central Europe to judge from, and 

 so far, I have only been able to examine a single male from 

 Switzerland, and a second from the Italian Alps. Neither 

 of these agrees in the least with Brehm^s description of 

 T. crassirostris, unless, perhaps, it be in the rather long 

 tail of the Swiss bird (Pilatus 14.4.06, in the Tring 

 Museum). 



In Scotland the Capercaillie was re-introduced from 

 Sweden at the comparatively recent date of 1837, so it is 

 scarcely surprising to find that specimens from that country 

 are still indistinguishable from the typical Scandinavian bird. 

 It is only fair to add, however, that fully-grown examples 

 of the latter sometimes attain slightly larger dimensions 

 and are often heavier birds f. 



From the eastei'n portions of its range continental 

 naturalists profess to recognise at least three races of the 

 Capercaillie. Of these the bird inhabiting the Ural Moun- 

 tains is at once the most beautiful aiid distinct. The male 

 of this form is much paler and greyer than that of the typical 

 bird, and a large part of its plumage is of a clear grey colour, 

 finely pencilled with blackish. The wing-coverts and scap- 

 ulars are light rusty-brown instead of the deep mahogany 



* It is perhaps true that T. urogallus attains its maximum size iu 

 Germany, western Russia, and south Scandinavia, but measurements 

 prove that this superiority is neither constant nor well-marked. 



t Millais (Nat. Hist, of Brit. Game Birds, pp. 1 and 3) states that the 

 weight of an adult male from Scotland ranges between 9 and 12 lbs. 

 H^ has known Russian examples to turn the scales at 14 lbs., while 

 scrtith Swedish birds have been recorded up to 16 and 17 lbs. 



SER. X. VOL. III. K 



