354 BLACK GROUS. Class II. 



moors, but in most places they are consider- 

 ably reduced in numbers by the unrestrained 

 havock made among them. 

 Descrip- An old black cock weighs from four pounds 



TION. . 



to four pounds and an half; its length is one 

 foot ten inches ; its breadth two feet nine. 

 The bill is dusky ; the plumage of the whole 

 body black, glossed over the neck and rump 

 with a shining blue ; the coverts of the wings 

 are of a dusky brown ; the four first quil 

 feathers are black, the next white at the bot- 

 tom ; the lower half of the secondary fea- 

 thers white, and the tips are of the same color ; 

 the inner coverts of the wings white; the 

 thighs and legs are covered with dark brown 

 feathers ; on the former are some white spots ; 

 the toes resemble those of the former species. 

 The tail consists of sixteen black feathers, and 

 is much forked; the exterior feathers bend 

 greatly outwards, and their ends seem as if cut 

 off; the feathers under the tail and inner co- 

 verts of the wings are of a pure white. 

 Female. The female weighs only two pounds: its 

 length is one foot six inches ; its breadth two 

 feet six. The head and neck are marked with 

 alternate bars of dull red and black ; the breast 

 with dusky, black and white, but the last pre- 

 dominates. The back, coverts of the wings 



