242 TETRAONINaE. LAGOPUS. 



broad, the dorsal line straight, the back broadly convex, the 

 sides nearly erect and convex, the edges erect, the tip round- 

 ed ; gape-line arched. Mouth narrow ; tongue short, trian- 

 gular, flat above, pointed ; oesophagus narrow, with a very 

 large crop ; stomach a powerful gizzard, of a roundish form ; 

 intestine long, rather wide ; cceca extremely long, cylindri- 

 cal, wider than the intestine, and of greater capacity. Nos- 

 trils basal, lateral, oblong, concealed by the short feathers of 

 the nasal membrane. Eyes of moderate size, eyelids fea- 

 thered, over the upper a semilunar space of bare papillate, 

 fringed, skin. Head small, oblong ; neck short ; body full 

 and large. Legs rather short ; tarsi feathered, as are the toes, 

 which are rather small, the first very short and elevated, all 

 with a few terminal scutella, and the anterior webbed at the 

 base ; claws rather long, arched, depressed, with the sides 

 sloping, the edges thin, the tip obtuse. Plumage full, close, 

 compact ; wings short, broad, curved, much rounded ; tail 

 short, broad, slightly rounded, of from twelve to sixteen fea- 

 thers. 



The Ptarmigans differ from the Grouse chiefly in having 

 the toes and tarsi feathered, and the former destitute of la- 

 teral linear scutella. They belong to the coldest regions, 

 and are remarkable for becoming white in winter, excepting 

 one species, which is peculiar to the British Islands. 



158. LAGOPUS SCOTICUS. BROWN PTARMIGAN. 



Adult male in winter chestnut-brown, inclining to red on 

 the neck, on the body variegated with black, on the breast 

 blackish, with many of the feathers tipped with white. Fe- 

 male in winter yellowish-red, spotted and barred with black. 

 Male in summer chestnut-brown, minutely barred and spotted 

 with black, the head and neck also barred, the breast darker 

 and more obscurely barred. Female yellowish-red, spotted 

 and barred with black. Young with the upper parts brown- 

 ish-black, each feather edged and barred with yellowish-red ; 

 lower parts yellowish-grey, barred with brownish-black, tarsi 

 yellowish-grey. 



Male, 16, 28, 8J, j, l, 1, T V Female, 15, 25. 



This species, commonly named the Red Grouse, occurs in 

 great abundance in all the extensive heathy tracts of Scot- 

 land, England, and Ireland. When not much molested, which, 



