178 THE COMMON BLACK GROUSE. 



there is abundance of water, and plenty of food, in 

 tender seeds of the rushes, and alpine grasses. The 

 young are seldom full grown before the first of Sep- 

 tember ; and even at this season, if they have been 

 undisturbed previously, they will almost suffer them- 

 selves to be lifted from among the rank herbage be- 

 fore the pointers. At this time the plumage of the 

 young is somewhat like that of the female, a lighter 

 tint of yellowish-brown, mottled and crossed with 

 bars of black, the males commencing to get the black 

 feathers of the adult plumage, or to spot, as sports- 

 men term it ; this is almost always completed by the 

 beginning of October, but does not gain its richness 

 of gloss and lustre before the following spring. 



During summer the general food is the seeds of 

 the various grasses, and the berries of the different 

 alpine plants, such as the cran and crow berries, 

 blaeberries, &c.*; and in winter the tender shoots of 

 the fir, catkins of birch and hazel, afford them sup 

 port in the wilder districts, and often give their pe 

 culiar flavour to the flesh ; but in all the lower dis- 

 tricts, where, indeed, this bird is most abundant, the 

 gleaning of the stubble yields a plentiful meal. Fields 

 of turnips or rape are also favourite feeding places, 

 and the leaves yield them a more convenient sup- 

 ply of food during hard frost, than they could else- 

 where provide. In some places flocks of hundreds 



* Vaccinium oxycoccus, Empetrum nigrum, Vaccinium 

 myrtillus, Vitis Idaea, and Arbutus Uva-ursi, are all sough': 



after. 



