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A PRACTICAL HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



black ; outer webs of black portions of secondaries, inner wing- 

 coverts and scapulars usually with varying amount of inconspicuous, 

 minute, dark red-brown freckling. This plumage is acquired by 

 complete moult July (sometimes June) to Oct., and often not quite 

 finished even in Dec. Usually all tail-feathers are moulted almost 

 simultaneously. Summer. — A partial moult of head, neck, chin and 

 throat takes place June and July as in Capercaillie but slightly 

 later so that often moult to winter is in progress at same time on 

 other parts of body and inner primaries. New summer feathers 

 shorter and more rounded than winter, on chin, throat and sides of 

 head black, barred, marked or edged white, on back of head and 

 neck and sometimes crown and upper-mantle black finely barred or 

 vermiculated dark rufous. These feathers are retained for only 

 about a month. 



Adult female. Winter and summer. — Crown, back and sides of 

 neck rufous thickly barred blue-black, rest of upper -parts same but 

 tips of feathers vermiculated black and penultimate black bar very 



broad especially on mantle 

 and scapulars and those on 

 back often with considerable 

 amount of glossy-blue and 

 tips sometimes huffish -grey,, 

 longest scapulars and long 

 upper tail-coverts sometimes 

 tipped grey ; chin and sides 

 of head rufous - buff nar- 

 rowly barred black ; throat 

 and upper - breast deeper 

 rufous and more widely 

 barred ; rest of under-parts 

 same but feathers tipped 

 dull grey and centre of belly 

 sometimes with more black 

 than rufous -buff ; under tail- 

 coverts rufous - buff barred 

 black with long white tips ; 

 axillaries and inner half of under wing-coverts white usually 

 with some brown marks, outer half with concentric dark brown 

 bands tinged rufous ; tail-feathers black coarsely and heavily 

 vermiculated rufous, tipped grey ; primaries dark brown narrowly 

 tipped buff, outer webs mottled buff, extreme bases of inner webs 

 of innermost feathers white ; secondaries with basal halves and 

 extreme tips white and distal halves black heavily vermiculated 

 buff to rufous-buff on outer webs ; primary-coverts and bastard- 

 wing black-brown, outer webs vermiculated rufous-buff ; wing- 

 coverts as upper-parts, tips of greater and inner median more or 

 less grey or even sometimes dull whitish. This plumage is acquired 

 by complete moult July to Nov. and there is no second moult 

 as in male. N.B. — Females with varying amount of male-like 



Tail and upper tail-coverts of adult female of the 

 British Black Grouse (Lyrurus t. liritannicns). 



