CHAPTER V 

 THE GROUSE AND OTHER BIRDS 



IN August when so many people are either shooting 

 or eating that delectable bird — the grouse — a few 

 words about him and his kind will be seasonable. 

 " Grouse " is an English word (said to have meant in its 

 original form " speckled "), and by " the " grouse we mean 

 the British red grouse, which, though closely related to 

 the willow grouse, called " rype " (pronounced " reepa ") in 

 Norway — a name applied also to the ptarmigan — is 

 one of the very few species of birds peculiar to the 

 British Islands. The willow-grouse turns white in 

 winter, and is often called the ptarmigan, which it is not, 

 though closely related to it. The willow-grouse inhabits 

 a sub-arctic zone, which extends from Norway across 

 the whole continent of Europe and Asia, and through 

 North America, from the Aleutian Islands to Newfound- 

 land. The red grouse does not naturally occur beyond 

 the limits of the British Islands. It does not turn white 

 in winter, and the back of the cock bird is darker in 

 colour, as is also the whole plumage of the hen bird, 

 than in the willow-grouse. The red grouse lives on 

 heather-grown moors ; the willow-grouse prefers the 

 shrubby growths of berry-bearing plants interspersed 

 with willows, whence its name. No distinction can be 

 discovered in the voice, eggs, build, and anatomical 



details of the two species. The red grouse and the 



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