THE FAUNA OF BRITAIN. 91 



is the Reindeer. It is supposed to have died out in 

 these countries not very many centuries ago, and 

 records have been handed down to us that it still 

 inhabited Scotland as late as the thirteenth century. 

 Like the Stoat, it occurred in two well-known varie- 

 ties, distinguished from one another by the shape 

 and form of the antlers. In the English pleistocene 

 deposits the remains of both kinds are met with 

 mingled together, whilst in Ireland only one of them 

 has been found. The explanation of this case is 

 similar to that of the two stoats. One of the varieties, 

 which we may call the northern one, came to us from 

 the Arctic Regions; the second wandered to the 

 British Islands at a later period, when Ireland had 

 probably become separated from England. It was 

 therefore unable to penetrate so far west. 



One of the most familiar examples of a northern 

 British bird is the Red Grouse (Lagopus scoticus). By 

 most authorities it is looked upon as a species distinct 

 from the Scandinavian Willow Grouse (Lagopus 

 albus\ but except in colour it is undistinguishabie 

 from it, and the eggs are identical. The whole genus 

 Lagopus is a distinctly Arctic one, and there can be 

 no doubt that the British Grouse belongs to the 

 northern migration, just like the Arctic Hare. The 

 Ptarmigan (Lagopus mutus) and the Snow Bunting 

 are also migrants from the north. Though as resident 

 British birds they are quite confined to Scotland, the 

 remains of the former have been found in a cave in 

 the south of Ireland, showing that its range in the 



