278 
HYBRID GROUS. 
This beautiful bird, about which much has been 
said by many ornithologists respecting its origin, 
appears decidedly to be a distinct species, and 
not a hybrid between the Wood Grous and the 
following, as asserted by Latham and others. 
The male has the head, the neck, and the breast, 
of a beautiful full black, with reflections of bronzed 
purple : the feathers on the back of the neck 
sprinkled with very minute grey points : the space 
round the eyes is black, with a. patch of white 
feathers beneath : the back and the rump are 
black, each feather being tipped with a purple hue, 
with almost imperceptible greyish spots : the belly 
is black, its sides being sprinkled with white dots : 
the thighs and the abdomen are white, as are the 
tips of the under tail-coverts : the scapulars, the 
lesser and middle wing-coverts are deep brown, 
barred with fine zigzag yellow-brown stripes : the 
basal half of the lesser wing-quills is white, then 
dusky brown, and tipped with white ; the rest of 
the quills are brown, slightly edged on their outer 
webs with white : the feathers at the bend of the 
wing and the under wing-coverts are white : the 
tail is similar to the upper coverts, which are 
black : the beak is black : the irides are hazel : 
the feet horn-coloured. 
The female has the tail less forked than the 
male, and is much smaller : her plumage is varied 
with small transverse black stripes, on a reddish 
ground. The young male greatly resembles the 
female : the back is reddish brown, varied with 
spots, and striped with transverse lines of brown : 
