MOOR FCAVL. 
61 
Though sluggards deem it but a foolish chase, 
And marvel men should quit their easy chair, 
The toilsome way and long long leagues to ';racc, 
Oh ! there is sweetness in the mountain air, 
And life, which bloated ease can never hope to share. 
And now we are amid the haunts of the Red Grouse — - 
of the Grouse^ar excellence^ variously called Eed or Brown 
Ptarmigan; Moor or MuirFowl; Moor Cock and Hen, and 
Gorcock ; the Tetrao Scoticus of Linnaeus, Latham, Tern- 
minck, &c., the Lagopus Scoticus of Macgillivray, and 
U Altagas of Buffon. Of all game birds this is perhaps 
most highly prized as a table delicacy. Its generic name, 
Lagopus^ is from the Greek, and signifies hare-foot; it 
has, like its congener, the Grey Ptarmigan, not only 
feathered tarsi, but the feet also are covered with thick short 
plumage. This bird is said to be peculiar to the British 
isles, and hence the suggestion has been made that its spe- 
cific name should be Britannicus. It is found in the boggy 
wildernesses of Ireland, as well as among the Welsh moun- 
tains, and hilly districts of the more northerly English 
counties ; but in Scotland it is most plentiful, and there- 
fore the generic term Scoticus would seem to be not inap- 
propriate. When fully grown, the plumage of the cock 
is a rich sienna brown, beautifully waved, mottled, and 
shaded with lighter tints ; sometimes the throat assumes 
quite a coppery hue, and the belly deepens into black, or 
nearly so ; the tail of this bird is not forked, like that of 
the Blackcock, nor is it so long ; the feathers are dark 
brown, barred and edged with red ; it has the same rough 
scarlet spot over each eye as the other members of the 
Grouse family, and the legs are purely or almost white, 
offering a strange contrast to the rest of the plumage. 
The female is smaller in size than the male, which com- 
monly weighs about twenty ounces, although it sometimes 
attains to thirty ; she is also of a paler colour, and has the 
scarlet patch about the eyes less distinct. Various berries, 
heath tops, and other mountain and moorland plants, form 
the common food of the Red Grouse; when cultivated 
lands are near to its haimts, it will often visit the stacks, 
or cornfields, and make the farmer contribute to its 
