GROUSE ae | 
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 tetriz (Linneeus)|. 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. LD 
Nest. In woodland or open ground. A Fig. 87. 
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, 2x 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 154 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, occasionally almost black. 
From June to October the males generally 
become blackish on the upper-parts, with numerous irregular 
