NATURAL HISTORY OF THE GROUSE 



altera Plinii, an Attagen Aldrov. In the north of 

 England it is called the Gor-cock and Moor-cock, the 

 hen the More-hen, the brood Gorfowl. Heath-cock is 

 also a name common to this with the precedent. 

 Turner's More-hen is the female of the precedent or 

 Blackcock. Gor in the north of England signifies red, 

 so the Gor- Cock is the red cock, &c. For the under- 

 standing and exact distinctions of these names we 

 are beholden to Mr. Johnson, of Brignal, in Yorke- 

 shirc.' ! 



The prefix ' gor ' has been applied to some other 

 birds, notably to the great black-backed gull and to 

 the carrion crow. The fishermen of the Solway Firth 

 often speak of the great black-backed gull as the ' gor 

 maw.' In Oxfordshire, as Mr. O. V. Aplin tells us, 

 the carrion crow is still recognised as a ' gor-crow.' 

 The syllable 'gor ' seems in these two instances to be 

 identical with the Saxon gor (carrion, or refuse), and 

 to refer to the fact that both the black-backed gull and 

 carrion crow feed upon carrion. Of the appropriate- 

 ness of the prefix in these cases there can be no 

 question. The gull preys habitually upon such fowl 

 as escape wounded from the wildfowler, and often 

 attacks a sickly lamb. The carrion crow is equally a 

 foul feeder. But with regard to grouse, I think that 



1 77/1,' Ornithology of Francis IVillnghby, \i. 23. 



