THE PLUMAGE OF THE GXOUSE 61 



found in the northern parts of both the old and the 

 new worlds. Its flight and note are those of the red 

 grouse ; but, in addition to having acquired a permanent 

 plumage of the white type, it has learnt also to perch 

 in trees, an accomplishment to which the red grouse 

 has not yet taken kindly. Possibly the red grouse is 

 an insular form of the willow grouse, which still puts 

 on many white feathers in some parts of its Western 

 home. This knotty point, unfortunately, we cannot 

 decide satisfactorily. The red grouse is monogamous 

 and consorts only with its own kind. There arc- 

 nevertheless a few well-authenticated specimens of the 

 wild cross between the red grouse and black-game, 

 as there are also perfectly black examples of the red 

 , grouse. As long ago as 1836, Mr. Macgillivray 

 examined and dissected a hybrid of tin's cross. 

 Altogether lie examined three specimens which showed 

 the characters of both the species from which they 

 were derived, and furnished the following description 

 of a male specimen : 'In form and proportion it is 

 similar to a female black grouse. The bill is of the 

 same form as in that bird. The supraocular mem- 

 brane resembles that of the red grouse, having a thin 

 free fringed margin, which is not the case with that ot 

 the blackcock. The feathers are generally oblong, 

 broadly rounded, and have a large tufty tumule. The 



