1910.] PLUMAGE OF THE R.'^D GROUSE. 1029 



the bird a very rich uuiform red colour all over the head and 

 neck. In the hen, as a rule, the whole of the feathers of these 

 parts are crossed by narrow black bars, which give her more of 

 the mottled and broken colouring, Avhich the cock bird begins to 

 assume in the early summer when he puts on the first feathers of 

 his autumn-plumage. 



The feathers of the chin are a very useful indication of sex 

 from August to November, practically throughout the shooting 

 season, for the chestnut-red feathers which can be found on the 

 chin of the cock Grouse in every month of the year will be 

 sought for in vain in the hen from August to November. Even 

 in December and January they are so imperfectly red as compared 

 with the same red feathers in the male that one may almost say 

 that red feathers are to be found on the chin of the hen only 

 from February to July, when they become conspicuous on 

 account of the contrast in colour with the increasing yellowness 

 of the breeding-plumage of the hen. These red feathers persist 

 in the hen exactly as do the feathers of the lower breast and 

 abdomen, from her previous autumn-winter plumage. 



This persistence of winter-plumage feathers on the chin, lower 

 bi"east, and abdomen is common to both cock and hen ; but in the 

 cock they remain, as a rule, until replaced by the following winter- 

 plumage, pei-sisting throughout the autumn-plumage change ; 

 whereas in the hen they are persistent only to June or July, and 

 are entirely replaced during the autumn-change. 



Even when the autumn-plumage is put on, the yellow feathers 

 of the preceding breeding-plumage are almost always to some 

 extent persistent, and they are to be found in the chin of the hen 

 bird even though the throat and neck may be unusually red and 

 therefore unusually like those of a cock bird. 



From January to May there is no possibilitj'^, as a rule, of con- 

 fusing the sexes. In June and Jul}' it is unlikely, but in August 

 and onwards to December it is sometimes quite easy to mistake 

 them, and the best guide is the persistence of feathers of the 

 preceding plumage such as occurs upon the chin in particvilar, 

 I'ecoUecting that the dominating plumage of the male is the 

 winter-plumage, while that of the female is the summer- or 

 breeding- plumage. 



In the autumn, especially from September and October onwards, 

 there is the additional diificulty of distinguishing old birds and 

 young. 



" Young birds in July resemble the adult female in breeding- 

 plumage in their general colour, but the flankrfeathers of the 

 adult plumage begin to appear about this time. By the month 

 of November the 3'onng are generally not to be distinguished from 

 the adults." This quotation is from Mr. Ogilvie-Grant's account. 



There is one sign of age in the majority of birds in the shooting 

 season, if it has not become obliterated — namely, the mark of recent 

 shedding across the claws. Very often one may find the nails 

 or claws still adhering to the toes, though read}- to drop off, ,so that 



Pitoc. ZooL. Soc— 1910, No. LXVII. " 67 



