OP NOETHTTMBEELAlfD AND DUEHAM. 91 



great strongholds appear to "be up the North Tyne in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Kielder, and on the Cheviot range. 



Black Grouse used frequently to occur at Prestwick Car. On 

 the I7th of June, 1853, I saw its nest and eggs on Callerton 

 Fell, a few miles south-west of Prestwick Car. 



Mr. Yarrell mentions, in his ''History of British Bii'ds," the 

 occurrence of several hybrids of the Black Grouse and Pheasant. 

 In the Newcastle Museum there are two examples of this hybrid. 

 One was shot near Alnwick Castle, November, 1837, the other 

 at Belsay, 1842, by C. H. Cadogan, Esq., of Brinkbum. 



I have in my collection three curious varieties of the Black 

 Grouse, two of which resemble the female to a great extent, but 

 are considerably darker ; both have the tail forked, but much less 

 so than in the male, and as in it, the under tail coverts are white, 

 and both specimens have the white patch on the secondaries as 

 well as on the shoulder, and one of them was gettiag the glossy 

 green neck of the male. The individual most resembling the 

 female had the ovary apparently quite in a healthy condition. 

 This specimen was shot near Angerton, on the "Wansbeck ; the 

 other was also killed in Northumberland. 



The third variety was shot near Cambo, on the 20th of 

 August, 1869. This is almost in. the complete plumage of the 

 adult male, but has some brown and white feathers about the 

 head and throat. The tail is only four inches long, though it ap- 

 pears to be full grown, and is very slightly forked, and it is not 

 more than half the usual length; the bird itself is fully one- 

 third less than the adult male, and is probably nothing more than 

 a dwarfed example. 



93. STARNA, Bonaparte. 



4. Pahteid&e. S. cineeea, (Chat^leton.) 



Perdix cinerea, Bewick, Hist. Brit. Birds, Ed. 1847, I., 357. 



,, „ Tan-eU, Hist. Brit. Birds, Ed. 2, II., 370. 



A resident. The Partridge is plentiful in the northern coun^ 

 ties, but the stock is liable to great fluctuation in accordance 

 with the state of the weather. In 1870 and 1871, the supply 



