124 THE SHOOTER'S GUIDE. 



each feather being marked with several transverse 

 bars of black ; the back and scapulars are a deeper 

 red, and on the middle of each feather is a large black 

 spot; the breast and belly are of a dull purplish- 

 brown colour, crossed with narrow dusky lines ; the 

 quill feathers are dusky; the tail consists of sixteen 

 black feathers, the four middlemost of which are 

 barred with red; the thighs are a pale red, obscurely 

 barred with black ; the legs and feet are clothed 

 down to the claws with thick, soft, white and brown 

 feathers; * the outer and inner toes are connected to 

 the first joint by a small membrane. The female is 

 considerably less than the male, weighing only fifteen 

 ounces. Her colours in general are less vivid, and 

 she has more of the white and less of the red feathers 

 than the male. 



The heathy and mountainous parts of the northern 

 counties of England are in general stocked with these 

 birds; but they abound in the Highlands of Scotland, 

 and are very common in Wales. They feed on moun- 

 tain berries, and the tender tops of the heath. 



Grouse pair very early in the spring, and the female 

 lays from eight to twelve or thirteen eggs, in a very 

 simple nest, formed on the ground. The young leave 

 the nest almost as soon as hatched, and continue to 

 follow the hen till the severity of the winter sets in, 

 when they unite in packs of twenty or thirty brace. 



* They are the old birds only which are thus feathered to 

 the claws, though it obtains, in some degree, in tlie poults. 

 Grouse are called poults till they are a year old. 



