89 RED GROUSE. 



the neck and rump. White bar on wings. Lower tail-coverts 

 white. Ahove eye a naked vermilion patch. Tail lyre-shaped. 

 Legs feathered. Length 23 in. Female smaller, chestnut- 

 brown barred with black. Young, like female. 



Language. A powerful, harsh, gurgling cry. 



Habits. Flight rapid. Polygamous, and in early spring the 

 cocks engage in most desperate combats, the hens looking on. 

 They also show off before the hens, going through many 

 curious antics for their delectation. 



Food. Buds and green shoots, seeds, berries, and grain. 



Site. Under a bush or among grass, in a slight depression, 

 usually not far from water. 



Materials. A little dry grass. 



Eggs. Six to ten. Yellowish white, spotted with orange- 

 brown. 



EED GEOUSE (Lagopus scoticus). 



Eesident. The only species exclusively British. Abundant 

 in Scotland ; found also in the northern counties of England, 

 and in Wales. Earer in Ireland. Essentially a moorland 

 bird. 



Plumage. Variable. Head and neck reddish brown ; above 

 eye a naked patch of vermilion ; upper parts chestnut-brown 

 barred with black. Breast nearly black, with white tips. Feet 

 and toes covered with grey hair-like feathers. In winter the 

 under parts more or less mottled with white. Length 16 in. 

 Female smaller, and lighter in colour. Young moult com- 

 pletely their first autumn, and assume adult plumage, but they 

 are usually whiter below than the adults. 



Language. The male makes a crowing sound, and when 

 alarmed utters a loud "ko-bek." Female makes a croaking 

 noise. 



Habits. Strictly monogamous. When alarmed it usually 

 runs some little distance before taking to wing. Flight power- 

 ful and rapid. It often feigns injury when the nest or young 

 are in jeopardy. Very seldom perches on trees. 



Food. Heather-shoots and shoots of other plants, berries, 

 and grain. 



Nest. May. One brood. 



Site. In some little hollow in the ground under tuft of 

 heather. 



Materials. A few grasses and heather-stalks, perhaps a few 

 feathers. 



Eggs. Six to twelve, or more. Yellowish white, clouded, 

 blotched, and spotted with dark umber-brown. 



