123 [Vol. xxv. 



might be found making their appearance on the head or nape 

 towards the end of April ; but these must not be confounded 

 with the old autumn-plumage, of which more or less is 

 always "carried over" from the previous autumn-moult. 

 He pointed out that these feathers when situated on the 

 back of the neck and upper mantle remained remarkably 

 fresh-looking for many months, being subjected to very little 

 wear and tear, while those on the back soon become much 

 abraided. The same remark applied equally to the chestnut 

 and black-barred winter-summer-plumage, the feathers on 

 the neck being still comparatively fresh in April, while those 

 on the back were much worn. Mr. J. G. Millais and also 

 Dr. Wilson had evidently mistaken these old autumn feathers 

 on the neck and mantle for new ones, being deceived by 

 their comparatively unworn appearance, but a careful ex- 

 amination showed that all of them were old feathers, with the 

 base of the shaft perfectly hard. It was therefore conclu- 

 sively proved that the male Red Grouse bred in his winter- 

 summer-plumage and did not, as stated by Mr. Miilais, assume 

 an ornamental spring-plumage; the few feathers which 

 appeared in certain individuals towards the end of April and 

 in May being merely the commencement of the autumn- 

 plumage. 



In the cock Grouse the autumn-moult commenced on the 

 top of the head and nape and gradually spread down the 

 back to the upper tail-coverts : in the subsequent winter- 

 moult, which takes place towards the end of September, the 

 reverse obtained, the moult commencing with the upper 

 tail- coverts and finishing on the head, some of the latter 

 feathers being sometimes still in quill in the end of 

 December or January. 



Dr. Wilson's recent investigations had shown the im- 

 mense effect which strongylosis, the chief form of Grouse 

 disease, exercises on the moult of Grouse, often retarding 

 the normal changes for many months. To account for the 

 remarkable fact that the male Grouse breeds in his winter- 

 plumage and, after the breeding-season, assumes an autumn- 

 plumage, much like that of the female in spring, Dr. Wilson 



