THE CHANGES OF PLUMAGE IN RED GROUSE 73 



and abdomen, and this may also be definitely of the red or the 

 black type. 



In the Committee's collection, the first or red form is well 

 represented from all parts of the country, and follows very much 

 the same distribution as the red type of the cock Grouse. 



Red examples were procured from the following areas : 

 Sutherland (3), Argyll (9), Arran (1), Dumbarton (1), Cumberland 

 (1), Westmorland (1), and Wales (3), all bright red birds ; Ross- 

 shire, all dark red ; Inverness-shire (3), very bright red and 

 (3) very dark red birds ; Aberdeen (3), very dark red birds ; 

 Stirling (4), red birds, with very fine black markings on the 

 breast. Perthshire, Moray, Kincardine, Dumfriesshire, Kirk- 

 cudbright, Northumberland, Durham, and Yorkshire were all 

 represented by red hens, generally of the dark red type. 



An example of the red type of hen Grouse is given in PL vm. 



The second or black form of hen is certainly, as Mr Ogilvie- 

 Grant says, extremely uncommon, and only one or perhaps 

 two of the Committee's birds should be included under this 

 heading. Two others are, however, so dark as to come with 

 difficulty under the category of red birds. 



Caithness produced a really black hen bird, the sex of which 

 could not possibly have been determined from its plumage. 

 It appears to be an old hen, which has assumed male plumage. 

 A specimen from Inverness is almost as dark a bird, and another 

 is a very dark reddish-black bird. A specimen from Dumbarton- 

 shire is similarly a case in which there seems to be more black 

 than dark red. 



An example of the black type of female Grouse is given in 



PL VII. '*' 



The third or white-spotted form is less rare, and, according 

 to Mr Ogilvie-Grant, occurs as often as in the male. In the 

 Committee's collection it is well represented by birds from 

 Sutherland, Ross-shire (a bird of the red type), and Inverness. 

 It was less to be expected that examples should have been 

 met with in Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Westmorland. Single 

 examples were procured in Dumfries and Kincardine. There 



