MOOR FOWL. 



327 



young- rabbits ; and we have seen no less than nine feeding at one 

 time upon the carcass of a sheep. 



It will sometimes feed on frogs, lizards, worms, and even the larger 

 insects. The nest is most frequently made on the ground, amongst 

 short wood, furze or fern. It is composed of sticks, rushes, or coarse 

 grass ; sometimes, though rarely, it builds in the fork of a large tree. 

 In both these situations we have found the nest with eggs. These are 

 perfectly white, without any spots, considerably less than those of the 

 common buzzard. It is by no means a bird of rapid flight, and, there- 

 fore, pounces its prey on the ground; for which purpose it is generally 

 seen skimming over the surface of the ground, like the ringtail. It is 

 said to prey on fish, occasionally, and on young ducks and other water- 

 fowl; from which circumstance it has, in some parts, obtained the 

 name of duck hawk. In the breeding season, when the female is sitting, 

 the male will soar to a considerable height, and remain suspended on 

 wing for a great length of time. 



MOOR COCK.— A name for the Moor Fowl. 



MOOR COOT and MOOR HEN.— Names for the Gallinule. 



MOOR FOWL (Lagopus Scoticus, Latham.) 



* Tetrao Scoticus, Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. p. 641. sp. 15. — Bonasa Scotica, Briss. 1. p. 

 199. 5. t. 22. f. 1. — Tetrao Lagopus, var. y and 8. Gmel. Syst. 1. p. 750.— La- 

 gopus Scoticus, Flem. p. 43. — Poule de Marais Grous, Cuv. Reg. Anim. 1. p. 

 450. — Tetras rouge, Temm. Man. d'Orn. 1. p. 450. — Tetrao Saliceti, aestate, 

 Temm. Man. d'Orn. 1st. ed. only — Tetras des Saules, Temm. Pig. et Gall. 3. pi. 

 9. f. 5.— Red Game, Moor-Cock, Gor-Cock, Rati, Syn. p. 54. A. 3.— Will, 

 (Angl.) p. 171.— Alton, 1 . t. 23. 24.— Red Grous, Br. Zool. 1. No. 94. t. 43.— 

 Lath. Syn. 4. p. 746. 13. — lb. Supp. p. 216.— Wale. Syn. 2. 1. 183.— Bewick's Br. 

 Birds, 1. p. t. 301.— Low's Faun. Oread, p. 51.— Selby, pi. 59. fig. 1. p. 307. 



This species weighs about twenty ounces ; length sixteen inches. 

 Bill black ; irides hazel ; above the eye is a scarlet fringed membrane 

 bare of feathers. The nostrils are covered with black and ferruginous 

 feathers ; the head and neck pale tawny, spotted black ; breast and belly 

 dull purplish-brown, crossed with numerous narrow dusky lines ; quills 

 dusky ; the tail consists of sixteen feathers ; the four middle ones are 

 barred with tawny-red, the rest black ; legs covered with soft whitish 

 feathers down the claws, which are of a light horn-colour, broad and 

 concave underneath. 



The female weighs about sixteen ounces ; the colour not so dark as 

 in the male. 



This bird is only to be met with in the extensive uncultivated wastes 

 covered with heath, particularly the most mountainous situations ; being 

 driven from the south by cultivation. The mountains of Wales are now 

 the most southern parts these birds are found in ; they are not uncom- 



