NOTES 
ON THE 
HYBRID GROUSE. 
I wave had such repeated opportunities of studying the 
Hybrid or Middle Grouse (Tetrao medius) that I feel com- 
pelled to jot down a few notes concerning’ this interesting 
bird. 
It is well known that naturalists have not yet conclusively 
decided whether it is a cross between the Capercaillie ( Tetrao 
urogallus) and the Black Grouse (Tetrao tetrix), or a third 
and quite distinct species. Most ornithologists, however, 
consider it fo be a hybrid, but there are undoubtedly some 
grounds for its acceptance as a distinct species. Let us first 
examine the reasons which lead to the latter conclusion. 
In Russia and Scandinavia the Middle Grouse is much 
more abundant than with us, and even in our own country it 
is commoner in those parts of the northern provinces where 
the character of the forests is adapted to the requirements of 
the wood-frequenting species of grouse than it is in similar 
districts in the southern divisions of the country. In our 
Alps, where Capercaillie have now been pretty carefully pre- 
served for many years, on account of the sport they afford, 
Hybrid Cocks are met with much more rarely than in Bohemia 
and Galizia, or, according to good authority, than in Northern 
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