60 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE GROUSE 



most liable to occur at a high altitude in the north of 

 Scotland. It may very well be so. Most of those 

 that I have heard of myself were killed in the north 

 of England at a very moderate elevation above sea- 

 level. That such varieties are rare there can be no 

 doubt, but they are not always preserved, even when 

 procured. These pied and so-called white grouse are 

 often bred from ordinary parents. On the other hand, 

 when the sport has once cropped up, it is liable to be 

 perpetuated, if the first pied or light-coloured birds 

 are spared. Last season (1893) a hen grouse was 

 shot near Alston in curious plumage. The wings were 

 cream-coloured, and the body feathers were of a dirty- 

 white. Three of her young birds were pied with 

 white ; the other four birds of the covey were ordinary 

 grouse. A few springs ago a Skiddaw shepherd sent 

 me word that a white grouse was sitting on eggs upon 

 the farm at which he worked. Unfortunately I was 

 not able to go and see the bird. I have often thought 

 of introducing the willow grouse to my own moor, in 

 the hope that it might interbreed with the red grouse. 

 These two species appear to be descended from one 

 common ancestor. The young of the willow grouse 

 bears a close resemblance to the young red grouse in 

 first feather. The willow grouse has an enormously 

 wide range ; it is, in fact, almost circumpolar, being 



