M BIRDS. GALLINADiE. Peedix. 



Tetrao seu Urogallus minor, Will. Orn. 124 Sibb. Scot. 16. T. tet 



Linn. Syst. i. 274 — Penn. Brit. Zool. i. p. 266 T. birkhan, Temm. ii. 



p. 460. ; E, Heath-hen, Black -game, Black-grouse or Moor-hen ; 5, 

 Black-cock ; W, Ceiliog du ; G, Coileach dubh — In wild and wooded 

 districts. 



Length 23, breadth 34 inches ; weight 48 ounces. Bill black. Irides hazel. A 

 bare scarlet granvdated spot over the eye. Head, neck, and body, glossy black, 

 ■with a bluish tinge. Quills 26, the four first black, the others white at the bot- 

 tom forming a white bar on the wing. Under coverts white. Tail of 16 fea- 

 thers, nearly 7 inches long, square at the ends, the two or three external ones, 

 on each side, 4 inches longer than the others. Under coverts white. The female 

 is less, of a brown colour, barred and mottled with black, and the lateral tail- 

 feathers are but little produced, and not recurved. Effgs 6 or 7, dirty white, 

 with brown blotches. The young follow the mother. Food, consists of moun- 

 tain-berries, heath, and birch-tops, and even corn. Dr AValker found the sto- 

 mach stuffed with the leaves of Polypodium vulgare, after the bird had lived in 

 woods during winter, (Hebrides, i. 337-) In Russia, this species is caught by 

 " stakes, pointed at both ends, driven into the ground, approaching near each 

 other at the bottom, but diverging at the top, so as to resemble a funnel or in- 

 verted cone. To the top of each stake is tied an oat-straw, with the gi-ain on 

 it. A long stake stands up in the middle of this machine, likewise crowned 

 with oats. To this is attached a horizontal stick, vacUlating freely within the 

 cone. The birds come to eat the oats, and light on this stick. It gives way, 

 and lets them fall into the cone, where not being able to use their wings, 

 they remain prisoners." (Mem. Acad. Imp. des Scien. Peter, i. 189. p. 321. 

 (Annals, of Phil. iii. 223.) 



It may be proper to take some notice in this place of a bird, long considered 

 as a hybrid between the cock of the wood and the black-cock. It is the T, 

 hybridus of Sparman, (Mus Carls, fasc. i. tab. 15.) T. intermedins of Langs- 

 dorff; (Mem. Acad. Peter, iii. 181 1, p. 236.) The Tetras rakkelhan of Tem. Orn. ii. 

 p. 459. In this species the feathers of the throat are a little produced ; head, 

 neck and breast, black, with bronze and purple reflections ; back and rump 

 with ash-coloured dots. Length 27 inches. The female is unknown. This 

 species is noticed as a native of Scotland by Brisson, under the name of Le 

 coq de bruyere piquete, and a Scottish gentleman told Dr Tunstall, who in- 

 formed Dr Latham, that it existed in our woods. The subject merits atten- 

 tion. 



II. Tarsus naked. 

 Gen. III. PERDIX. Partridge. — Cheeks with a naked 

 skin. The three first feathers in the wing shorter tlian the 

 fourth. Tail even and short. 



4. P. cinerea. Common Partridge. — Bill and legs bluish- 

 grey ; face and throat reddish-brown. 



P. ruffa, Merr. Pin. 173 P. cin. Will. Orn. 118 — Sibb. Scot. IQ.—Penn, 



Brit. Zool. i. 274 Temm. Orn. ii. p. 488. ; W, Cor-iar : G, Ceare-tho- 



main In the neighbourhood of corn-fields. 



Length 13, breadth 20 inches; weight 15 ounces. Plumage a mixed cine- 

 rous brown and black. Behind the eye a naked red warty skin. On the 

 breast a deep bay- coloured mark in the form of a horse-shoe. QuilU 23, brown. 

 Tail of 16 feathers, brown, the four middle ones like the back. The female is 

 smaller, the head less bright, and the ear-coverts are greyish. The mark on 

 the breast is white for the first year, aftem'ards more or less like the male 

 and by the third vear is no longer a mark of distinction. Eggs fi-om 12 to 20, 

 of a wood-brown' colour. Period of incubation three weeks. Young leave 



