RARER BRITISH BIRDS. 



25 oU 



ROCK GROUSE. 



Lagopus Rupestris. GMELIN. 



THIS bird appears to be one of those which are found both in 

 the American and European Continents; not being uncommon in 

 the neighbourhood of Hudson's Bay, in Norway, Sweden, Green- 

 land, France, and Italy; and was found by Captain Sabine in 

 Melville Island. Although it is to Pennant that we owe the 

 elevation of this bird to a species, it is to Joseph Sabine, Esq. 

 that the honour of having first enrolled it in our indigenous lists 

 belongs. The following is an extract from his MS. notes on it, 

 kindly lent to us : 



" In the autumn of 1825, when on a visit at Blair Athol, I 

 heard that a curious Grouse (a hybrid between a Red Grouse 

 and Ptarmigan it was said to be) had been killed in Perth- 

 shire, not far distant from Blair. It was an exhausted bird, 

 having been easily knocked down by the shepherd. I was 

 incredulous as to its supposed origin ; and, doubting what it 

 could be, had the satisfaction, after a time, of becoming pos- 

 E 



