Vol. xxi.] 38 



hardly remind the Members of the Club that such a state- 

 ment is obviously a mistake, for the primary- quills in an 

 adult Willow-Grouse are pure white. In young birds the 

 first white quills (which succeed the brownish-black quills 

 accompanying the first feather-plumage) are often speckled 

 with black along the shaft and towards the tip, but there is 

 no trace of this in the adult bird. 



" The second specimen I have to exhibit, which is almost 

 certainly a female and undoubtedly a bird of the year, 

 resembles in general appearance the male described above. 

 It differs, however, in having many of the Grouse-like 

 feathers of the upperparts, breast, sides, flanks, and under 

 tail-coverts conspicuously tipped with white, while many of 

 the wing-coverts, especially of the lesser and median series, 

 are dull rufous-buff, finely mottled with brownish-black and 

 tipped with white. It was killed on Malundy, 3293 ft., in the 

 Monar Forest, Eoss-shire, in November 1874, by Mr. W.J. 

 O. Holmes, of Strumpshaw Hall, Norwich^ and was in com- 

 pany with the two Ptarmigan which have been mounted along 

 with it in the same case. One of these, a male, is in autumn 

 plumage, but with some white winter-feathers on the throat, 

 breast, and upper tail-coverts ', the other, a female, is in full 

 winter dress. Mr. Holmes informs me that out of the 

 eleven brace of Ptarmigan killed on the same day all were 

 in autumn- winter-plumage with the exception of the almost 

 perfectly white female mentioned above, which must have 

 attained its winter plumage unusually early. 



" Further notes and figures of these supposed hybrids 

 will appear in a future number of Witherby's magaziue, 

 ' British Birds.' " 



The Members of the Club expressed their gratitude both 

 to Mr. Debenham and to Mr. Holmes, who had so kindly 

 forwarded these interesting specimens for exhibition. 



Mr. Ogilvie-Grant also exhibited an example of the 

 Great Northern Diver {Cohjmbus glacialis), which had been 

 forwarded to him from Ireland by Mr. E. M. Barrington, 

 who had received it from Mr. Williams, taxidermist, Dublin. 



