NOTES 



ON THE 



HYBRID GROUSE. 



I HAVE had such repeated opportunities of studying the 

 Hybrid or Middle Grouse (Tetrao medius) that I feel com- 

 pelled to jot down a few notes concerning this interesting 

 bird. 



It is well known that naturalists have not yet conclusively 

 decided whether it is a cross between the Capercaillie ( Tetrao 

 urogallus) and the Black Grouse (Tetrao tetrix), or a third 

 and quite distinct species. Most ornithologists, however, 

 consider it to be a hybrid, but there are undoubtedly some 

 grounds for its acceptance as a distinct species. Let us first 

 examine the reasons which lead to the latter conclusion. 



In Russia and Scandinavia the Middle Grouse is much 

 more abundant than with us, and even in our own country it 

 is commoner in those parts of the northern provinces where 

 the character of the forests is adapted to the requirements of 

 the wood-frequenting species of grouse than it is in similar 

 districts in the southern divisions of the country. In our 

 Alps, where Capercaillie have now been pretty carefully pre- 

 served for many years, on account of the sport they afford, 

 Hybrid Cocks are met with much more rarely than in Bohemia 

 and Galizia, or, according to good authority, than in Northern 



