

ON THE ORNITHOLOGY OP LAPLAND. 335 



birds, did any one ever see a red grouse perch in a 

 tree ? Did he ever find a nest in the forest ? or 

 did he ever know the red grouse even accidentally 

 to frequent the small birch, willow, or fir forests that 

 lie remote from the fells themselves ? In all these 

 particulars the willow grouse differ from the red 

 grouse, and in so great a degree that you never 

 by any chance (at least I never did) find them on 

 the open moors or fells, never higher up than the 

 willow and birch bushes afford them a good 

 shelter. And I may notice another striking dif- 

 ference in the habits of the two birds. I have 

 always in August and September found that the 

 red grouse are partial to dry situations, whereas at 

 this season of the year the willow grouse invariably 

 select the moistest places they can find; small 

 belts of willow bushes by the side of the forest 

 streams, often on wet woodland mosses, or 

 morasses, but never out of covert ; and I consider 

 their name of willow grouse to be most appro- 

 priate. It has been suggested that, if the willow 

 grouse were introduced into England, their colour 

 would gradually change, and they would become 

 more like the red grouse. This might or might 

 not follow, but I do not see that this fact would at 

 all prove the identity of the two birds, unless 

 indeed the willow grouse were also to change its 

 habits as well as its plumage in its new home, 



