364 



THE NATURE BOOK 



its numbers, in broken country, to be 

 classed amongst the common residents. If, 

 ho\ve\"er, the game laws were repealed it is 

 probable that its size and tastiness would 

 soon tend to its extinction, in spite of its 



dom, but nowhere in such numbers, as 

 the more protectively coloured bird of 

 the heather already mentioned. The 

 latter is more of a lowland bird than the 

 Red Grouse, just as the winter white 



RED GROUSE. 



J-;uH\'xni/h I'V C. Kctd, Il\s/la7r, iV./>'. 



hardiness, and the marvellous manner in 

 which the very highly coloured male bird 

 can manage to escape destruction in un- 

 preserv^ed districts. The latter is the 

 more extraordinary in view of the self- 

 advertisement of his whereabouts during 

 the breeding season by his constant crow- 

 ing, and as frequent wing clapping. The 

 latter vibrating sound is made after, 

 instead of previous to, the crow, as is the 

 custom of our barn-door Chanticleer. 



Although the Red Grouse is absent 

 from most counties in the United Kingdom, 

 it would be unfair to omit any mention 

 here of our only real British bird, in the 

 exclusive sense of the term. Nowhere 

 else in the world is he to be found wild, 

 and is it not a great annual question, as 

 to whether or no Parliament should rise 

 in time to watch and help to stay the bird's 

 flurried flight uj)on the far-famed 

 " twelfth " ? The larger sj)ecies of Grouse, 

 the Black Cock and Grey Hen, as the 

 sexes are severally called, is ])erha})S 

 more widely spread throughout tin; king- 



Ptarmigan is a constant denizen of the 

 highest mountain tops. During the 

 summer season the latter bird is granite- 

 coloured and beautifully vermiculated, 

 and equally suitably clad to escape ob- 

 servation as in the winter. Its ])lumage 

 assimilates closely with the prevailing hues 

 of its surroundings, which are, when the 

 snow has melted, sparsely covered with 

 lichen-grey vegetation and the brown- 

 green tips of the young heather, ui)on 

 which each species of Grouse delights to 

 feed. 



The difference in general plumage 

 between the English or Grey Partridge, 

 and the so-called French, or red-legged 

 bird, is so distinct that there is no need 

 to say more than that the latter has a 

 uniform reddish brown back, and its 

 wings are Hanked with very pale lilac- 

 coloured feathers, which are widely barred 

 with deep chocolate. The upper part of 

 the native s})ecies is l)eautifully decorated 

 with \-ari()us shatles of brown, and the 

 neck and chest are grey with black ver- 



