THE GUN AT HOME AND ABROAD 
female, closely resemble one another, and the individual type or variety 
is, for the time being, lost, except on the underparts of the body. 
In the early part of the shooting-season, the males, especially, are still 
mostly in their autumn black and buff-barred plumage, while the females 
are more advanced ; but by October, unless the normal changes have 
been retarded by disease, both sexes are clean moulted, and the different 
types are once more clearly marked. 
Different types of male. — In the male in winter -summer plumage (October 
to June) the ordinary varieties may be divided into three distinct types : a 
red form, a black form and a white spotted form. 
(1.) The red /om.-— The general colour is rufous -chestnut, without any 
white spots on the breast. This form is mostly to be found in the western 
counties of Scotland, England and Wales, from Caithness southwards, 
also in the Hebrides and the low grounds of Ireland. 
(2.) The black form. — ^Typical examples of the really black form are 
rarely met with, and are usually found mixed with either the red or white - 
spotted forms, but most often with both, and specimens in mixed plumage 
are those most commonly met with. Almost entirely black examples have 
been obtained in Caithness, Sutherlandshire, Perthshire, Stirlingshire, 
Dumbartonshire and Yorkshire; and more or less typical birds from 
Ross-shire, Aberdeenshire, Morayshire, Kincardineshire, Stirlingshire, 
Fifeshire and Lancashire. 
(3.) The white spotted form. — The feathers of the breast and belly, and 
sometimes those of the head and upperparts, are tipped with white. 
The most typical examples of this variety are found, as a rule, on the 
high grounds of the north of Scotland, and are certainly most characteristic 
of the Highlands, but well-marked examples occur occasionally in most 
parts of the bird’s range, including the north of Ireland. 
Different types of female. — ^In the female in autumn -winter -plumage 
(August to April) no less than five distinct types are recognizable, the red, 
the black, the white -spotted, the buff-spotted and the buff-barred. 
(1.) The red form. — ^The red type is much less common among females 
than it is among males, but its geographical distribution is, broadly 
speaking, much the same; that is to say, red examples are most commonly 
met with on the west coast of Scotland, England and Wales, and in the 
Hebrides. 
(2.) The black form. — Typical black females are extremely uncommon, 
but good examples have been obtained in Caithness, Inverness-shire, 
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