216 BBITISH BIRDS' NESTS. 



pale brown or ash, mottled with small dusky spots 

 aud bars. Wings white, the shafts of the quills 

 being black. Tail-quills black, tipped with white, 

 the two centre feathers sometimes grey ; chin white ; 

 throat white, mottled with brown ; breast same 

 as back ; belly, vent, and under tail-coverts white. 

 Legs and feet dull white ; claws black. 



The female is a trifle smaller ; her head and 

 upper-parts have more red, rusty yellow, and black, 

 and less grey than in the case of the male. The 

 dark parts on the wing-quills are broader, and her 

 under-parts are darker. 



Situation and Local if ij. — On the ground, amongst 

 heather and the vegetation growing on the rock- 

 strewn and bleak mountains of the Highlands of 

 Scotland, and some of the larger islands of the 

 Hebrides. 



Materials. — A few bits of dead heather, dry 

 grass, or leaves, used as a lining to the hollow 

 chosen for the reception of the eggs. 



Eggs. — Seven to ten or twelve, greyish-white 

 to pale red-brown in ground colour, blotched and 

 spotted all over with very dark, rich brown. Size 

 about 1-7 by 1*1 in. Distinguished from the eggs 

 of the Red Grouse by their buffy ground colour 

 and smaller number of markings. 



Time. — May and June. 



BemavTxS. — Resident. Notes, sometimes low, and 

 at others a kind of loud and prolonged croak. 

 Local and other names : Rock Grouse, White 

 Grouse, White Partridge (from the fact that the 

 bird turns white in winter), White Game. Sits 

 very close, and the nest is difficult to find. 



