Page:GrouseinHealthVol1.djvu/117

Rh Pl. . Under surface: variety of red type in autumn plumage. Male Grouse. Loch Sween, 19.8.92. C. C. S. Parsons. British Museum (Natural History), 92.7.13.1. The second or black form of cock Grouse is, according to Mr Ogilvie-Grant, rarely met with, most of the black birds being mixed with the red or white-spotted forms. In the Committee's collection there are a few very good examples of the really black type, and they come from the following areas: — Caithness, Sutherland, Perthshire, Dumbartonshire, and Yorkshire. More or less typical examples have also been obtained from Ross-shire, Aberdeenshire, Morayshire, Kincardine, Stirling, Fife, and Lancashire. At Newcastleton the low-lying grassy moors are credited with the production of the black type of Grouse, while the other types are found on the higher heather ground.

The following specimen has been figured to illustrate the black type of Grouse cock:

Pl. . Under surface: black type in winter plumage. Male Grouse, No. 723. Perthshire, 4.4.07. "The third or white -spotted form has the feathers of the breast and belly, and sometimes those of the head and upper parts, tipped with white, white. The most typical examples of this variety are found, as a rule, on the high grounds of the north of Scotland."

This statement is again confirmed by the Committee's collection, although an occasional white-spotted bird makes its appearance farther to the south. It is, however, the exception in the south, whether it be on the red or black or intermediate type. The most marked examples of this white-spotted form have come from Caithness, Sutherland, and Inverness, while Dumfries, Perthshire, and Yorkshire have each provided one or two very fair examples. In Easter Ross birds are said to be most commonly dark red or black with white beneath. At Scrafton, Middleham, the majority have white beneath, and all are dark red or bright red. The predominance of white beneath is quite conspicuous in a geographical arrangement of a large number of skins, as a character of the north of Scotland, especially throughout the Highlands. The following specimen has been figured, illustrating the white-spotted type of cock Grouse: —