TETRAO.] AVES RASORES. 169 



white. Before the first moult, both sexes resemble the adult female. (Egg.) Light 

 reddish yellow brown, spotted all over with two shades of darker brown : long. diam. 

 two inches three lines ; trans, diam. one inch eight lines. 



Formerly abundant in the mountainous forests of Scotland and Ireland, but now 

 extirpated. The last specimen killed in the former country is said to have been shot 

 near Inverness, about fifty years ago. Ceased to exist in Ireland at a considerably 

 earlier period. Occurs plentifully at the present day in many parts of the Continent, 

 and is much attached to pines, birch, and juniper. Said to feed on the berries of 

 the latter, and on the buds and tender sprays of the two former. The males are 

 polygamous. The females build on the ground, and lay from six to sixteen eggs. 



t (15.) T. medius, Meyer. (Hybrid Grous.) Temm. Man. d'Orn. 

 torn. ii. p. 459. Id. Pig. et Gall. torn. HI. pp. 129, & 698. Spurious 

 Grous, Lath. Syn. Supp. p. 214. 



Said to have been formerly found in Scotland, on the authority of 

 Mr Tunstall ; but there is no existing evidence by which the truth of 

 this assertion can be proved. Is principally distinguished from the last 

 species by having the neck and breast of a rich bronzed purple hue, the 

 bill black, and the tail slightly forked, with the outermost feathers the 

 longest. The egg, which is figured by Klein, is very similar in colour 

 to that of the Wood Grous, but in size a little smaller. 



149. T. Tetovo, Linn. (Black Grous.) Throat- 

 feathers not elongated : the general plumage violet-black, 

 with a white bar on the wings : tail very much forked ; 

 the lateral feathers bending outwards. 



T. Tetrix, Temm. Man. d'Orn. torn. n. p. 460. Id. Pig. et Gall. 

 torn. in. pp. 140, & 699. Black Grous, Mont. Orn. Diet. Selb. 

 Illust. vol. i. p. 423. pis. 58, & 58*. Bew. Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 338. 



DIMENS. Entire length twenty-three inches : breadth, wings extended, 

 three feet. 



DESCRIPT. (Male.) Head, neck, breast, back, and rump, black, with 

 purple and blue reflections : eyebrows naked, vermilion-red ; beneath 

 the eye a white spot: abdomen, wing-coverts, and tail, deep black, 

 secondary quills tipped with white, forming, with the adjacent coverts, 

 a broad bar of that colour across each wing: under tail-coverts pure 

 white : the lateral feathers of the tail much longer than the middle ones, 

 curling outwards: tarsi clothed with blackish gray hair-like feathers: 

 bill black: irides bluish. (Female.) Smaller; general colour of the 

 upper plumage ferruginous yellow, barred and mottled with black : 

 greater wing-coverts tipped with white : breast orange-brown, with black 

 bars : belly dusky brown, with whitish and red bars : tail very slightly 

 forked, variegated with ferruginous and black; the tip grayish white. 

 The young of the year, till after the first moult, resemble the adult 

 female. (Egg.) Yellowish white, spotted and speckled with orange- 

 hrown : long. diam. two inches ; trans, diam. one inch five lines. 



Most abundant in Scotland, and the northern parts of England. 

 Occurs more or less sparingly in some parts of North Wales, as well as 

 in the counties of Stafford, Somerset, Devon, Sussex, and Hants. Partial 

 to woody, heathy, and mountainous situations. Feeds on berries, and on. 

 the tops of heath and birch. Is polygamous. Nest placed on the ground, 

 generally under the shelter of a low bush, composed of a few dried stems 

 of grass. Eggs from six to ten in number, laid in May. Obs. The 

 Hybrid Bird figured in White's Nat. Hist, of Selborne, is probably a 

 young male of this species, having nearly completed the first moult. 



