264 ALLEN'S NATURALIST'S LIBRARY. 



Col. Fig. Brit. B. partxviii. (1891) ; Ogilvie Grant, Cat. B. 

 Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 35 (1893) ; id. in Allen's Nat. Libr. ix. 

 p. 27 (1895). 



The Red Grouse is such a well-known bird that a detailed 

 description is unnecessary, but the reader is referred to the 

 excellent descriptions published by Mr. Ogilvie Grant. The 

 following account of the variations in the plumage of this species 

 is the result of very careful study on his part, and I cannot 

 do better than quote it, as I find nothing to add on my own 

 account. The figures referred to in his descriptions will be 

 found in the volume quoted (Allen's Nat. Libr. ix. pis. ii. iii.). 



Adult Male and Female. This species may be distinguished by 

 having the flight-feathers always blackish-brown. 



Male : Total length, 15-5 inches; wing, 8'i ; tail, 4'8 ; tar- 

 sus, 1-4. 



Female: Total length, 15 inches; wing, 7*8; tail, 4*3; tar- 

 sus, 1-35. 



Range. Great Britain and Ireland, The only species of 

 Game-Bird peculiar to the British Islands. 



Changes of Plumage. * " As no group of birds, as far as I am 

 aware, goes through so many and such varied annual changes of 

 plumage as do the members of the genus Lagopus, which includes 

 the Red Grouse, Willow Grouse, and four species of Ptarmigan, 

 it will be necessary to enter somewhat fully into details so as 

 to thoroughly understand the subject. 



" The Red Grouse being one of the most variable birds in 

 existence, we must begin by saying a few words regarding 

 individual variation. The ordinary varieties of the male may 

 be divided into three distinct types of plumage : a red form, a 

 black form, and a white-spotted form. The first of these, in 

 which the general colour is rufous-chestnut (pi. ii. fig. 8) with- 

 out any white spots on the breast, is mostly to be found on the 

 low grounds of Ireland, the west coast of Scotland, and the 

 Outer Hebrides. Typical examples of the second, or black, 

 form (pi. ii. fig. 10) are rarely met with, and are usually 

 found mixed with either the red or white-spotted forms, but 

 most often with both, and specimens in mixed plumage are 

 * Cf. Ogilvie Grant, /.r. 



