GROUSE 



71 



about the eye, larger in the male. The fledgling is not unlike 

 the female, but shows more buff. 



Nest. Usually in a pine-forest, at the foot of a tree ; also 

 under a bush, in heather, or other cover. The nest-scrape is 

 lined with pine-needles, moss, feathers. 



Eggs. Usually 6-8. Yellowish to reddish-yellow speckled, 

 spotted, and finely blotched with browns. Av. size, 2*27 x 

 1*62 in. Laying begins end April. One brood. 



144. Black-grouse, blackgame; blackcock (male), greyhen 

 (female) [Tetrao tetrix (Linnaeus)]. Resident. Breeds chiefly 

 in the northern counties and Scotland. Absent from Ireland. 

 Local movements. 



Bird. Length 23 in. The blackcock is easily recognised 

 by the lyre-shaped tail, the conspicuous white 

 under tail-coverts and less marked white bar 

 on the wing, both contrasting with the general 

 blue-glossed black of the plumage. In July- 

 September the black of the upper-parts is for 

 a time mixed with chestnut or brownish-buff. 

 The greyhen is chiefly barred and freckled 

 with rufous-buff and black. The forked-tail 

 readily distinguishes her from the hen caper- 

 caillie. The fledglings are much like the 

 adult female, but young cocks soon show 

 black in the plumage. 



Nest. In woodland or open ground. A 

 scrape in the ground, lined with leaves, pine- 

 needles, moss, and other material. 



Eggs. Usually 6-10. Like the capercaillie's, but smaller. 

 Av. size, 2 x 1*45 in. Laying begins April-May. One brood. 



145. Red-grouse [Lagopus lagopus scoticus (Latham)]. 

 Resident. Breeds in moorland districts of 



Scotland, Ireland, and parts of Wales, W. 

 and N. England ; exceptionally elsewhere. 

 Local movements in winter from the high 

 moors to the lowland. 



Bird. Length 15^ in. The male, in breeding 

 dress, is chestnut-red finely barred with black, 

 the breast being darker. Legs and toes 

 feathered white. Wing and tail quills 

 brownish. The coloration varies much. 

 Some individuals have the under-parts, and 

 sometimes the upper-parts, spotted white ; 

 others are dark, occasiooally almost black. 

 From June to October the males generally 

 become blackish on the upper-parts, with numerous irregular 



Fig. 87. 



Fig. 88. 



