PHASIANIDAE 



'■39 



observed that it utters a clear ringing note, as well as the familiar 

 " cok-cok-cok," and feeds upon grain and tender shoots of ling 

 {Calluna) and heather {Ericct), besides other plants. The nest 

 of moss, grass, and the like is placed amidst heather, and con- 

 tains from six to ten, or even more, yellowish-vsrhite eggs, thickly 

 blotched and spotted vs^ith fine red-brown, purplish, or black. In 

 England the Eed Grouse is found as far south as Derbyshire and 

 Shropshire, in Wales to Glamorgan ; while unsuccessful attempts 



Fig. 48. — Red Grouse. Lagopus scotims. 



have been made to introduce it into Surrey and elsewhere. In 

 Ireland it is rather thinly distributed, but in Scotland it reaches 

 the Orkneys, and an occasional brood has been known to be reared 

 in Shetland, where a few pairs were turned down between 1858 

 and 1883. It has also been acclimatized in Southern Sweden. 

 Lagopus albus, the Willow Grouse of Northern Europe, Asia, and 

 America, termed the " Dal-riporre " in Scandinavia, is completely 

 white in winter, except for the lateral rectrices, which are chiefly 

 black; in summer it resembles the Eed Grouse, but is distinguished 

 by the white wing-quills. The female is smaller. The habits 



