166 



Adult Female (Otley, Leeds). Differs from the male in being lighter in colour, somewhat smaller, and 

 lacking the rich rusty or chestnut colour on the neck and breast ; the entire plumage is yellowish 

 brown, with a reddish tinge, barred and vermiculated with blackish brown, many of the feathers, 

 especially on the back, having yellowish brown apical spots ; the supraocular comb is much smaller 

 than in the male, and scarcely visible in some specimens. Total length 14 inches, culmen - 85, 

 wing 7*5, tail 41, tarsus 1*8. 



Young. Young birds in winter show much more white about the eyes and beak, and on the lower breast 

 and belly, than the adults; they also have white lesser under wing-coverts, whereas in old males 

 these feathers are often dark brown. Old mares are usually darker and more uniformly coloured than 

 their younger brethren ; and all are much darker in winter than in summer. 



Obs. The Grouse differ somewhat in colour according to locality. Judging from the series I have before 

 me, I consider that those from Scotland are somewhat the larger, and considerably darker in colour. 

 Those from the north of England are more rufous ; and the Irish bird is considerably the lightest, and 

 has a yellowish red tinge in the plumage ; the feathers on the legs are also darker and browner than in 

 any of the other specimens. I have no specimens from Wales, where they are said to be small and 

 very light-coloured. As regards size, five specimens I have measured vary as follows : — 



Wing. Tail. Tarsus. 



inches. inches. inch. 



8-0 4-7 1-8 



7-8 4-3 1-8 



8-2 4-2 1-8 



7-5 4T 1-8 



79 4-3 1-85 



This the Common Grouse of our islands is peculiar to Great Britain, and, excepting that it has 

 to some extent been domesticated in Sweden, occurs in no other part of the globe. Not only is 

 it, as its specific appellation implies, found in Scotland, but it is numerous in many parts of 

 England and Ireland, though not so common as it is in Scotland, where the Grouse-moors have 

 of later years proved a source of no small emolument to the Scottish landowners ; for in spite of 

 the Grouse-disease, which has thinned their numbers very materially, the high rents paid by 

 wealthy Englishmen for Scotch moors do not appear to have at all diminished, and a Grouse- 

 moor is as essential to the fashionable Englishman of the present day, who at all cares for 

 shooting, as a box at the opera is to the lady of fashion of the present period. In Scotland the 

 Grouse is abundant in almost all localities where the heather, whether Calluna vulgaris or 

 Erica cinerea, is found, both in the lowlands and in the moors, at a considerable altitude above 

 the sea-level. Mr. Robert Gray (B. of W. of Scotl. p. 234) writes that " throughout Western 

 Scotland the Bed Grouse is widely distributed, being found on all our moors, ranging from the 

 base of the highest mountain-peaks down to the patches of heath that skirt the saltwater lochs 

 of the Outer Hebrides. It is found in almost the whole of the islands of both the inner and the 

 outer group, being common in Islay, Mull, Skye, Rum, and Jura, where the species is said to be 

 increasing. It is also tolerably abundant in Lewis, Harris, North and South Uist, and Barra. 

 All the birds I have examined from these wild wastes appeared to be quite free of disease ; but 

 as a rule they may be said to be smaller and lighter in colour than those from moors on the 







Culmen 







inch. 



6. 





. . .0-9 



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. . . 0-85 



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Ireland . . 



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