246 Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society, 
mottled with reddish-brown, almost black on sides of head, 
and part of back ; feathers of head and neck mottled, and 
many of them edged with white ; upper part of back mottled 
over with yellowish-red or light brown, with here and there 
a feather nearly black ; scapulars, greater and lesser wing 
coverts, are many of them tipped with white ; primaries 
brown, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth, mottled on the outer 
web with white ; secondaries mottled with reddish-brown, 
and tipped with white. 
Tail black, of eighteen feathers, like black grouse ; the 
red grouse having sixteen feathers. The four outer feathers 
elongated and slightly curved outwards ; fourth feather very 
slightly longer than the others ; two central feathers of tail 
mottled over with reddish-brown, and edged with white 
across the point of feather; upper tail coverts dark brown, 
mottled with reddish-brown, and slightly tipped with white. 
Below, breast nearly black ; feathers of abdomen slightly 
mottled with reddish-brown, and many of them broadly 
tipped with white ; vent white ; under tail coverts brown, 
broadly tipped with white ; under surface of wings, and axil- 
laries white. 
Legs closely covered all round with white and grey 
feathers, like red grouse, which also cover the toes for half 
their length (excluding the claws) ; toes covered above with 
transverse scutellee, on each side of which are a row of 
square-shaped scales, and beyond this a fringe or margin of 
more linear pectiniform scales—as in black grouse. 
This bird was shot in a wild state with other grouse in 
the neighbourhood of Midcalder, about the 10th or 12th of 
November, its peculiar appearance having attracted atten- 
tion ; and has been preserved by Mr Small, George Street. 
Yarrell mentions that hybrids between the Blackcock 
and Eed Grouse, have been suspected by naturalists, but 
does not appear to have seen any of them ; he refers to 
Macgillivray's "British Birds'' for a notice of three speci- 
mens believed to be birds of this kind, one of which he ex- 
amined in the flesh, and describes in detail. Through the 
J^indness of one of our members, William Smellie Watson, 
Esq., R.S.A., I am enabled to exhibit this bird, which is in 
