HYBRIDS BETWEEN RED GROUSE AND PTARMIGAN. 43 



picked it up that it really was more of a dirty slate and yellow 

 tone, and I have more than once made the same remark on 

 so-called "white" Pheasants. 



Passing over the instances reported to have been seen only, 

 I will consider some in which the bird has been secured and 

 examined. 



In August and September, 1888, no fewer than five cases were 

 reported in 'The Field' of "white Grouse" or hybrids, and a 

 sixth referred to by the Editor. 



In one of these the writer expressly states that his bird was 

 only a variety of the Ked Grouse, as no Ptarmigan existed 

 anywhere near, though but for this circumstance it would not 

 unlikely have passed as a hybrid, since the wish is apt to be 

 father to the thought, and the shooter would be inclined to believe 

 that he possessed the more curious specimen. 



In two other cases the writers seem to have satisfied them- 

 selves that their birds were also merely varieties, as they do 

 not, and could not, by the description they give, claim them 

 as hybrids. 



The fourth, fifth, and sixth cases require more consideration. 



The fourth example was shot out of a covey of six ordinary 

 Grouse on Sir Donald Currie's Garth Moors. The writer, after 

 roughly describing the coloration, adds, " At first sight one would 

 imagine the bird to be a cross, if such a thing were possible, 

 between a Grouse and a Ptarmigan." The description of the 

 colour is as follows : — 



" The hack is nearly white, slightly speckled with light brown, with a 

 small patch of dark grouse-feathers on either side close to the pinions of 

 the wings ; a couple of corresponding dark patches lie immediately below 

 the wings on the body, while the breast is of a very light colour, in which 

 light feathers predominate, with a dark line down the centre. The tail is 

 white, shading off to a pale slate-colour at the tip, and the outer feathers of 

 the wings are pure white, faintly tipped with grey. The feet are like those 

 of other Grouse, but the pads are distinctly yellow, instead of the usual 

 grey-green colour of the ordinary young birds on these moors." 



Now it seems to me that this description affords tolerably 

 conclusive evidence that this bird was only a whitish Grouse, 

 and not a hybrid, since if it had been a hybrid the colours of the 

 back would have approximated to those of the Ptarmigan in 



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