Grous-Ptarmigan. RASORES. LAGOPUS. 429 



the great care bestowed upon tlieir protection through the 

 r^st of the year, and the comparatively small number re- 

 quisite to replenish the stock, owing to the numerous broods 

 derived from each pair, is at present a sufficient guarantee 

 against the final extinction of a species, which, as the pe- 

 culiar property of our islands, should be most carefully con- 

 tinued. 



The Red Grous is more easily tamed and kept in confine- 

 ment than the Black Grous, and has been known to breed 

 in that state *. They feed readily upon oats, meal, &c. but 

 thrive better when frequently supplied with tufts of heath. 



Varieties of a cream colour, or with different degrees of 

 white, are often met with ; and there has for many years ex- 

 isted, upon the moors of Blanchland, in the county of Dur- 

 ham, a cream-coloured or light-grey variety, spotted more or 

 less with dark brown and black ; but from the anxiety of 

 sportsmen to procure specimens, these birds have not been 

 allowed to increase, as they otherwise, in all probability, 

 would have done. 



Plate 59. Fig. I. Male bird. Natural size. 



Bill black ; half hidden by the small feathers that cover General 

 the nostrils. Above the eyes is a naked fringed skin of fio^n"^' 

 a bright scarlet colour. I rides chestnut-brown. Orbits 

 of the eyes, and a small patch at the posterior angles of 

 the lower mandible, white. Head, neck, breast, and 

 belly, deep chestnut-brown ; in many instances marked 

 with fine undulating black lines, and frequently spotted 

 with white. Back and wing-coverts reddish or chestnut- 

 brown, with variously sized black spots. Tail having 

 the four middle feathers reddish-brown, with transverse 

 black lines; the rest entirely brownish-black. Legs 

 and toes thickly clothed with greyish-white feathers. 

 Claws long and flat, their colour yellowish-grey. 



* See Mont. Supp. to Ornith. Diet. ai"t. Red Grmm. 



