GROUSE 143 



the Red, the White, the Spotted, the Yellow, and the 

 Black. The females of the Red Irish bird are yellow, 

 and not red as would be supposed ; they are, however, 

 quite different from what are generally known amongst 

 Yorkshiremen as " yellow hens," which latter are finer 

 in tlie markings of the feathers and lack the Ijoldness 

 of the lines found in the Irish birds, and I am sorry 

 that space forljids my being able to give examples of 

 both the forms. 



Of the types of hens the red is the rarest, and the 

 spotted and breeding-dress birds the most beautiful. 



Any sportsman who does much Grouse-driving and 

 cares to study natural history can form a most Ijeautiful 

 and varied collection of the various changes of plumage 

 ff)und in this bird without much difficulty, and one which 

 will ever Ije of interest to himself and his friends. ¥ov 

 the past ten years I have been continually adding to my 

 series, and have now about sixty examples of all the forms 

 and varieties ; witli these and ]Mr. T. E. Buckley's, who 

 has l)een kind enough to lend me his collection, I have 

 been able to work out all the different forms and give 

 illustrations of the most pronounced tyjDes. Art, un- 

 fortunately, is but a poor substitute for Nature, and the 

 reader, if a shooter, will do well to form a small collection 

 of his own, from which he will oet a far better knowledofe 

 of the subject than from any pictures. 



As before remarked, the changes of plumage in the 

 Grouse are the same as in the Ptarmigan, and birds will 

 be found to be in full moult in April, August, and October ; 

 the latter chanoe, however, takes lono^er than the other 

 two, and no doubt many Grouse, like the Ptarmigan, 



