RASORES. TETRAONIDÆ.
T H E BLACK GROUSE.
Tétrao tetrix, Bla„c k G') r„ouse, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 35%. Mont. Ornith. D i ç tK
„ ,, Bewick, Brit. Birds, vol#-i. p. 348.
„ Cock, F Lem. Brit. An. p. 43.
,, “ Grouse, Selby, Brit. Qrnith. vol. i. p. 423.,* ,
,, Grous, Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 169.
' „ Grouse,' G ould,rBitds of Europe, pt. xxi.
Tétras Birkhan, Temm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. ^->460»
T he B lack Grouse inhabiting in small numbers a few
particularly wild localities in some of the southern counties of
England is mtich more numerous in the north, and from
Northumberland, throughout the greater part of Scotland, is
found in • considerable quantities where well wooded and
mountainous districts afford shelter and winter food. They
are also found, according to Mr. Macgillivray, on the islands
Muls&nd * S% in the Hebrides,1: blit not on £|npnf the
islands ‘of^Orkney and Shetland.
i The. Black /Gi?ouslé,r^êux name.ds. considered to h è derived
from thè Persian word, groos,—though partial to bogs and
morasses, where th e herbage.’ grows,rank and strong,-|S: more
arboreal in -its habits than either the Red Grouse or the
Ptarmigan,; and like the Capercaillie, last described, it does
not pair, but the males in the spring resort to some particular
- elev-Stede and open" spots, where "they may be heard in thé
morning and evening, repeating their call of invitation- to the
otherr-se'x, and displaying a variety óf attitudes;, trailing their
wings, raising and-spreading their-tails-,- accompanied, as Mr.
Selby observes^ sfoy a '©rowing note; and by another sound
similar to-that madeJby the wetting of a scythe ; their voice
is loud, and may be heard from a considerable distance;their
plumage is at this timélin the highest perfection. The other
rS©k assemble’ at the well-known call: but, like the hens of
the'last species, they1 do not long retain the attentions of their
svablb lords. The females make a slight nest bn the ground,
frequently under shelteib of. ‘somehow thifkf bush, in which
th ^ ii deposit. from six t o : eight eggs-: thes.e:»are yellowish
white, spotted and speckled with orange brown; two inches
in length, by one inch five lines in breadth. The dreary task
of incubation is performed by the female only, and being deserted
by the male, upon her alone devolves the care and provision
of the brood. In their first plumage the young birds
of both sexes resemble thé female, but the yöung males fry