116 ON THE PLUMAGE OF THE BED GROUSE. [Jan. 17, 



colour. Back very black, the feathers edged and barred with dark 

 brown, greater wing-coverts black, with here and there slight brown 

 markings ; upper tail-coverts very dark brown with lighter brown 

 marks, shading to nearly pure black at the tail. Chin black, throat 

 very deep reddish brown ; breast black, some of the feathers slightly 

 edged with brown, which turns to white at the centre of the breast, 

 the sides showing more decided brown markings ; under tail-coverts 

 same as sides, but the markings more distinct still. 



This bird approaches to a melanism ; but as I have often come 

 across specimens closely resembling it, I have described it as a type 

 of one of the variations. 



No. 8. Female, Dec, 3, 1879. — Back of head and neck light 

 brown, marked with black bars and spots. Back, greater and lesser 

 wing-coverts, and tail-coverts light brown marked with black bars, 

 some of the feathers having black spots ; the tips of many of the 

 feathers again have a very light brown spot, giving it a very mottled 

 appearance. Outer edges of primaries slightly marked with white. 

 The whole of the breast, sides, and under tail-coverts light brown, 

 shading to darker brown in the centre, each feather having one or 

 more black bars — the feathers in the centre and sides also being edged 

 with white, as are also the under tail-coverts. 



This and No. 4 most nearly resemble each other, the latter being 

 probably the older bird. 



Now I think it will be admitted that the specimens I exhibit 

 should not be, as I maintained before, regarded as " varieties " in 

 the vague and ordinary sense of that word. It seems to me that we 

 should regard them as instances of individual differences or polymor- 

 phisms — ^just as in the case of the Ruff (^Machetes pugnax), which 

 exhibits a degree of variability in its seasonal adornment more con- 

 spicuous, 1 allow, than that of the Grouse now before us, but far 

 less permanent, since the difference in the Grouse would appear to 

 remain, if not throughout the year, for at least several months, 

 while that in the Ruff is confined to but a few weeks in the spring 

 or early summer. Thus, if my contention be just, we have in the 

 Red Grouse — the only species of birds according to the opinion of 

 most ornithologists which is peculiar to the British Islands, and a 

 species which in the judgment of the best authorities is itself the 

 modified descendant of a far more widely distributed species, the 

 Willow-Grouse {Lycopus albus) — an amount of individual variability 

 capable of still further and perhaps indefinite modification as to 

 colour, should occasion arise whereby such modification might be 

 rendered necessary for the persistence of the stock. 



'V' • ■ 



