42 THE GROUSE IN HEALTH AND IN DISEASE 



The feathers of the legs and feet of healthy birds are rapidly growing to 

 form thick, white stockings for the winter. Bare legs in September are a 

 sign of belated moult or, in other words, a sign of sickness. 



In October, for the first time since the preceding winter, the red and black 

 varieties of Red Grouse become once more conspicuously distinct. This 

 result is due to the new growth of fully pigmented feathers, either 

 red or black, upon the under surface of the body. The upper neck 

 is rapidly becoming copper-red. The chin and throat still show a proportion 

 of the faded buff "autumn" feathers among the red, the former looking spotty 

 and pale. On the back the new chestnut and black feathers are rapidly 

 replacing the faded autumn feathers. Some perfectly healthy cocks still look 

 as if in " autumn plumage," while others, on the contrary, have nearly com- 

 pleted their winter dress. The legs and feet are thickly covered with white 

 feathers, and the nails are uniformly small, as the old claws have all been 

 shed. Their growth, however, is extremely rapid. 



In November and December the cock Grouse drops most of the remaining 



"autumn plumage." By the end of the latter month his moult is corn- 

 November * 



and plete, but on the neck and back a greater or lesser number of these 



December. 



autumn feathers are retained till the following summer. 



The most striking characteristics of the winter plumage are the rich 

 copper - coloured neck and throat, and, in the darker varieties which are 

 common in the Scottish Highlands, the contrasting blackness of the upper 

 breast and abdomen often broadly flecked with pure white tips. 



Amongst the cocks there are several well-defined and easily recognised 

 varieties, which seem to have a certain regularity of distribution geographically. 

 These will be considered below. 



It must not be forgotten that, owing to innumerable efforts, which have 

 been more or less successfully made from time to time, to transfer Red 

 Grouse from one part of the country to another, the distinction of local 

 variations has become a thing of the past, and is now impossible except 

 upon a very limited scale. The attempt, however, can be made, and the 

 number of specimens in the Committee's collection of Red Grouse skins 

 makes it possible to arrive at some conclusions. 



