58 THE GROUSE IN HEALTH AND IN DISEASE 



and black, and marked with conspicuous terminal whitish buff 

 spots or bars (PI. ix.). The under parts, again, are broadly 

 barred with buff and black, from the chin to the throat and 

 neck, over the breast and down the flanks, while the central 

 lower breast and abdomen are still in the autumn plumage 

 of the previous September. White terminal spots may, of 

 course, be present on the breast and abdomen. These are a 

 local or an individual character which will be mentioned later 

 in dealing with varieties of feather pattern and coloration. 

 The flank feathers of the hen in the full spring plumage show 

 much diversity of pattern. 



The legs and feet of the healthy hen Grouse in April and 

 in May are very poorly feathered, but the claws are very long 

 (PI. vi., Figs. 3, 5). 



In June the legs and feet are almost bare, and the claws 

 begin to drop off (PI. vi., Figs. 3, 4, 5). The precise date of 

 this shedding of the claws is again really a part of the moult, 

 and is, in consequence, equally dependent upon the health of 

 the bird. Sick birds which have survived the spring mortality 

 are always late in the shedding of their claws, and equally late 

 in the changing of their feathers. The claws are shed, both 

 in health and in disease, but once a year, and the casting is 

 synchronous as a rule with the disappearance of the autumn 

 dress. The figures (PL vi.) by which this process is illustrated 

 require but little explanation. The whole of the year's growth 

 of horny black nail becomes loose on the soft and growing 

 vascular matrix, and when quite ready to be cast can be easily 

 pulled off like a little cap. The young nail beneath is at first 

 soft, pink and vascular and very short, but soon hardens and 

 deepens in colour, and in a month or two has grown to be a useful 

 nail of horn. The transverse or circular groove which is left 

 at the point of detachment of the old nail is quite a useful 

 indication of age in cases where there is a doubt as to a bird 

 being over twelve months old or of the year. The presence 

 of the groove showing that the claws have once at least been shed 

 is conclusive proof that the bird is more than twelve months old. 



