THE HYBRID GROUSE. 597 



I will, in conclusion, quote word for word one more passage 

 from the works of old Christian Ludwig Brehm : 



" COMPARISON OF THE .FEMALES OF THE MIDDLE WOOD- 

 GROUSE AND THE BLACKGAME. 



" Tetrao medius. (Female, about 9 months old.) 



" Length 21 inches ; breadth 32 inches. 



" Tail 5J inches long, and notched to a depth of 1 inch. 



" The feet are so thickly feathered that only the point of 

 the nail of the hind toe projects from the feathers. 



" Height of the tarsus 24 lines. 



" The head is large, and in form somewhat resembles that 

 of the hen Capercaillie. 



" The chin-feathers are elongated, so as to form a beard 

 15 lines long. The first six primaries are grey-black, with 

 paler specklings, but only on the outer web. 



" The white base of the primaries begins at the seventh 

 and goes back to the eighth from the last. 



" When the wings are folded they show two distinct white 

 bars, of w r hich the first or outer one is eight and the second 

 five lines broad. The ground-colour of the lower back is a 

 splendid blue-black with a bluish sheen traversed by narrow 

 wavy bars of a dark rust-colour. 



" Tetrao tetrix. (Female, about nine months old.) 



" Length 18 inches ; breadth 28 inches. 



" Tail 4^ inches long, and notched to a depth of 1^ inches. 



" The feet are not so closely feathered that the hind toe is 

 hidden in the feathers. 



" The head is not large, and does not at all resemble in 

 form that of the hen Capercaillie. 



" The feathers of the chin are not elongated. 



