242 
TETRAONIN^. LAGOPUS. 
broad, the dorsal line straight, the back broadly convex, the 
sides nearly erect and convex, the edges erect, the tip round- 
ed ; gape-line arched. Mouth narrow ; tongue short, trian- 
gular, flat above, pointed ; oesophagus narrow, with a very 
large crop ; stomach a powerful gizzard, of a roundish form ; 
intestine long, rather wide ; coeca extremely long, cylindri- 
cal, wider than the intestine, and of greater capacity. Nos- 
trils basal, lateral, oblong, concealed by the short feathers of 
the nasal membrane. Eyes of moderate size, eyelids fea- 
thered, over the upper a semilunar space of bare papillate, 
fringed, skin. Head small, oblong ; neck short ; body full 
and large. Legs rather short; tarsi feathered, as are the toes, 
which are rather small, the first very short and elevated, all 
with a few terminal scutella, and the anterior webbed at the 
base ; claws rather long, arched, depressed, with the sides 
sloping, the edges thin, the tip obtuse. Plumage full, close, 
compact ; wings short, broad, curved, much rounded ; tail 
short, broad, slightly rounded, of from twelve to sixteen fea- 
thers. 
The Ptarmigans differ from the Grouse chiefly in having 
the toes and tarsi feathered, and the former destitute of la- 
teral linear scutella. They belong to the coldest regions, 
and are remarkable for becoming white in winter, excepting 
one species, which is peculiar to the British Islands. 
158. Lagopus Scoticus. Brown Ptarmigan. 
Adult male in winter chestnut-brown, inclining to red on 
the neck, on the body variegated with black, on the breast 
blackish, with many of the feathers tipped with white. Fe- 
male in winter yellowish-red, spotted and barred with black. 
Male in summer chestnut-brown, minutely barred and spotted 
with black, the head and neck also barred, the breast darker 
and more obscurely barred. Female yellowish-red, spotted 
and barred with black. Young with the upper parts brown- 
ish-black, each feather edged and barred with yellowish-red; 
lower parts yellowish-grey, barred with brownish-black, tarsi 
yellowish-grey. 
Male, 16, 28, 8|-, jf, 1|-, IJ, Female, 15j, 25. 
This species, commonly named the Bed Grouse, occurs in 
great abundance in all the extensive heathy tracts of Scot- 
land, England, and Ireland. When not much molested, which, 
