40 GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL. 



enough and bring up the numerous progeny in company. This 

 usually occurs in localities where Black Game are thick upon 

 the ground. The Gray Hen is a close sitter, and her plumage is 

 remarkably inconspicuous amongst the dead fern and under- 

 growth. Incubation lasts about twenty-six days. Only one 

 brood is reared in the season. The young are reared with 

 difficulty, wet seasons being especially fatal to them ; and many 

 nests are washed away by being made too near the bank of some 

 mountain stream, which rapidly becomes a torrent and overflows 

 its banks during long-continued rain. 



Diagnostic Characters. — Tetrao, with the tail lyre-shaped 

 [male], and the wing ii inches in length or less. Length, 22 

 inches [male], 15 inches [female]. Black Cock hybridises with 

 the female Red Grouse occasionally, and has been known to 

 interbreed with Willow Grouse, Hazel Grouse, and Pheasant. 



