THE PLUMAGE OF THE GROUSE 63 



in the collection of T. H. Horrocks, Esq., of Eden 

 Brows, Carlisle. Several specimens have been met 

 with in Scotland, and a single hybrid of this kind has 

 lately been obtained in Wales. I have heard of two 

 other birds referred to this species, but in neither in- 

 stance was the bird preserved, the reason being that 

 they were hard shot. This is a misfortune, for the two 

 species interbreed so very rarely that all specimens of 

 their hybrid offspring possess great interest for natu- 

 ralists. There is reason to think that a more extra- 

 ordinary hybrid than that just named occasionally 

 occurs, viz. the offspring of the red grouse and partridge 

 Mr. Howard Saunders has devoted the following re- 

 marks to an accredited hybrid : ' Hybrids between 

 the partridge and any other species are uncommon, 

 but Mr. Y. Bond has a bird shot on Blubber-house 

 Moor, near Harrogate, in August 1866, by the present 

 Lord Walsingham, which appears to be the result of 

 a cross with the red grouse, the bill being strong and 

 grouse-like, the tarsi and feet partially feathered, the 

 breast and body mottled with pale reddish-brown with 

 a sprinkling of grey, the quill feathers dirty white, with 

 lavender-grey outer webs. The brown colour of the 

 upper parts is not very significant, but the feathering 

 of the tarsi and feet seems tolerably conclusive.' ' 



1 Yarrell, J>riii>k />'/;-</,-, iii. i 14. 



