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 unceasing 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 



