318 Dr. E. Lonnberg on a remarkable Capercaillie. 



five or six years. Thus it became apparent that the aber- 

 ration of these Capercaillies from the normal type meant 

 something more than mere individual variation, so I wrote a 

 preliminary report, which has been published in Reichenow's 

 'Ornithol. Monatsberichte ' (Juin-Juli Hft. 1905)* and 

 proposed to distinguish this aberrant form by the name 

 used above. 



The writer has now been enabled to present to the readers 

 of ' The Ibis ' a very exact and satisfactory picture of 

 the bird, which has been prepared by the skilful hands of 

 Mr. A. Ekblom. 



The description of my specimens is as follows : — 



Head and neck dark ashy grey finely mottled with black ; 

 in one of the specimens the ground-colour of some of the 

 feathers of the neck shades somewhat into brownish, but the 

 mottling is similar to that on the other feathers. The colours 

 of these parts are duller than in a normal Capercaillie, and 

 they do not so plainly display a bluish hue. 



The feathers of the chin and throat are blacker than the 

 others, but with a fine grey mottling which is not found in 

 the typical bird ; on the other hand, the metallic hue of the 

 beard of the latter is entirely lacking in the variety. 



The beautiful glossy green shield on the chest of the 

 normal Capercaillie is wanting, and is only feebly represented 

 by narrow margins shewing some green, or rather bluish- 

 green, gloss on the feathers, which are otherwise mottled 

 and similar to those of the neck. These green margins are 

 chiefly confined to the chest-region, where the shield is found 

 in the typical Capercaillie, but it is evident that the limits 

 cannot be so sharp. 



Upper back, scapulars, wing-coverts, and secondaries reddish 

 brown, vermiculated with black. This ground-colour is much 

 redder than in the typical bird, and might even be termed 

 chestnut. The outer web of the primaries is brown, but less 

 reddish. It is a very remarkable fact that there is no white 

 spot at the anterior margin of the wing, nor any white 

 colour basally on the outer web of the primaries, nor are 

 there white tips to the secondaries. The under- wing-coverts 

 * " Zur Kenntniss der Variation der Auerhabns," pp. 99-103. 



