THE RED GROUSE 215 



her tu be wounded. By August 20, the young are supposed to be 

 fully fledged, and the sportsman is expected not only to show his 

 skill as a marksman, but his quickness of eye in cUscriminating 

 between males and females as tlie covey rises. The former are to be 

 distinguished by their richer colouring, and by the more strongly 

 marked white on the wings. At this season the old Black Cocks 

 club together. 



The Black Cock is found in greater or less quantities in the moor- 

 land districts of many of the English counties, but is most abun- 

 dant in the north of England and Wales, and in Scotland, 



THE RED GROUSE 



LAGOPUS SCOTICUS 



Plumage chestnut brown, marked on the back with black spots and beneath 

 with black lines ; a fringe of small white feathers round the eyes, and a 

 white spot at the base of the lower mandible ; a crimson fringed band 

 above the eyes ; some of the feathers of the abdomen tipped with white ; 

 tail of sixteen feathers, the four middle ones chestnut with black bars, 

 the rest dusky ; feet and toes covered thickly with grey hair-like feathers. 

 Female — the red eye-lid less conspicuous ; colours not so dark and tinged 

 with reddish yellow, the black spots and lines more numerous. Length 

 sixteen inches. Eggs reddish ash colour, nearly covered with blotches 

 and spots of deep red-brown. 



The diminution of the number of Pheasants in France, owing to a 

 relaxation of the efforts formerly made to protect them, and the 

 abundance of the same birds, in those parts of England where un- 

 ceasing care is taken of them in severe or protracted winters, tend 

 to prove the great difficulty of preserving a foreign bird in a country 

 which is not in every respect adapted to its habits and constitution. 

 On the other hand, the undiminished abundance of Red Grouse in 

 Great Britain, in spite of the absence of all artificial protection, and 

 notwithstanding the vast quantity which annually fall a prey to 

 vermin, poacliers, and sportsmen, proves as satisfactorily that 

 where a bird has become abundant, in a country in all respects suited 

 to its constitution and producing an inexhaustible supply of its 

 natural food, it is impossible to extirpate it. If we ever had occasion 

 to adopt a bird as a national emblem, the choice might for one 

 reason fall on the Red Grouse. It is a native of the British Isles, 

 and is found in no other country. On the moors of Scotland, the 

 hilly parts of the north of England, the mountains of Wales, and 

 the wastes of Ireland, it is as wild and free as the Gull on the sea- 

 cliff. It frequents extensive heaths where man could not protect 

 it if he would, and finds no stint of food where few living things can 

 exist but insects and some of the larger rapacious animals which 

 make it their special prey. Eagles, P^alcons, Buzzards, Crows, 

 Foxes, Martins, and Polecats, all wage against it incessant war ; it 



