4 THE GROUSE SUBFAMILY 



female, but differs therefrom in having rufous buff shaft-streaks at the ends of the 

 wing-coverts, scapulars, and inner secondaries. When about the size of a partridge, 

 the males can be distinguished by the appearance of black feathers on the breast 

 and abdomen, scapulars and interscapulars, and in the tail. The immature male 

 resembles the adult, but differs in having less gloss on the plumage, and the feathers 

 of the head and neck tipped with rufous, while the wing-coverts, scapulars, and 

 secondaries are narrowly vermiculated with rufous. The young in down may readily 

 be distinguished from the downy young of the capercaillie by the large patch of 

 chestnut on the crown ; further, a dusky median dorsal stripe may be distinguished 

 running from the nape backwards to the middle of the back, where it broadens and 

 becomes chestnut in hue. [w. P. P.] 



2. Distribution. This seems to be a diminishing species at the present time 

 in the British Isles. In Devon and Somerset, though formerly plentiful, it is now 

 much reduced in numbers, and almost extinct in Cornwall. In Dorset and Hants 

 it is now very local and scarce, and in Wilts, Sussex, and Surrey, though occasional 

 stragglers are still met with, it is probably extinct as a breeding species. In Wales 

 it is very local and scarce, but still exists in Brecon and Montgomery, and also in 

 some of the border counties (Hereford, Shropshire, etc.). On Cannock Chase 

 (Staffs.) it is still common, and a few breed in N. Staffordshire and N. Derbyshire, 

 and thence along the Pennine range to the Scottish border, ranging into all the 

 northern counties of England. In Scotland it is unevenly distributed, but found 

 throughout the mainland and many of the Inner Hebrides, but is absent from the 

 Outer Hebrides and the northern island groups. Unsuccessful attempts have been 

 made to introduce it to the Orkneys, Outer Hebrides, Lincolnshire, East Anglia, 

 and several southern counties. In Notts, Leicester, and Kent it is now extinct, 

 but may possibly survive in Worcester. It is not found in Ireland. On the Con- 

 tinent it ranges north to 70 in Norway and 68 in Sweden, while in Russia it extends 

 to 69 in Lapland and 67 in the Urals. Southward it is found in the Urals up to 

 51, and from the Samara and Saratofi governments to the Carpathians ; it is 

 scarce in Carinthia and Styria, but is found in the N. Apennines, the Alpine range 

 and Savoie, though absent from the Pyrenees. Between these limits it occurs locally 

 in open heaths and birch woods, especially in the Low Countries, Germany, and 

 Denmark. In the Caucasus, the S. Urals, and in Asia east of the Urals from lat. 

 67 N. to Manchuria, it is represented by allied forms. [F. c. K. J.] 



3. Migration. Resident and stationary both in the districts in which it 

 is indigenous and in those in which it has been introduced. [A. L. T.] 



