178 THE GROUSE IN HEALTH AND IN DISEASE 



ous. The undeveloped ovary of an adult female Grouse would 

 about cover a threepenny piece, but is long and triangular in 

 shape rather than circular. 



The oviduct in a breeding hen is a large and conspicuous 

 duct, and may, of course, contain an egg with the shell in course 

 of formation and being pigmented in preparation for laying. The 

 oviduct in a barren bird, or in a hen at other times than the 

 breeding season, is a very much less conspicuous object, and is 

 less easily found than the small and undeveloped ovary. 



If no ovary is seen, but a very small blackish, or whitish, 

 or parti-coloured object is found in its place which is suspected 

 of being a testis, the intestines must then be gently separated 

 from their attachments about the middle line of the back, 

 and the other testis must be sought for about in the same position 

 on the opposite side. Even in a young bird the ovary shows 

 ova with sufficient distinctness to make doubt as to its sex an 

 impossibility ; but in a very young male bird the testes may be 

 so small, and, being very often black, may look so unlike what 

 is expected that both should be sought for and found before 

 arriving at a certain conclusion as to sex. 



It is easy, if the intestines are roughly handled, and the 

 attachments torn carelessly away, to carry away the testes or 

 the ovary from their proper position, and to remove them with 

 the intestinal attachments. The peritoneal folds are delicate 

 and require careful handling, and they overlie the generative 

 organs and the kidneys ; but a very little practice will enable 

 any one to do the necessary dissection with certainty, and to 

 arrive at an irrefutable diagnosis as to sex. 



The testes appear often to run a normal course of develop- 

 ment as the breeding season approaches, however seriously 

 the bird may be diseased. The first sign of any increase 

 in the size of the testes is to be found about the third 

 week of February, at least in the northern half of Scotland. 

 Further south it is found a little earlier. In May the testes 

 have increased in size to twenty or thirty times the bulk 

 they had during inactivity, and they are then white and fatty, 



