with species which; like the Red Grouse, pair in theiï
season than with thoset which-, like thé Pheasant and the
.Capercaillie* do. not pair. Macgillivray. (British Birds, i. 162)
has, however, mentioned three, describing in detail one
bird supposed to have been thus produced, and Which
Was sent' i by Lord Mostyn from Wales, for. preservation,
on the 8th of September; 1855, when- a note was made
of its appearance. The head, neck; breast, and all- the
under surface of the body, resembled the plumage of the
young Red Grouse ; the back, wings, upper tail-coverts, and
the tail-feathers, were as black .as those parts in the Black
Grouse; the tail-feathers Were elongated and forked, but
being a yóung bird of the year, and killed thus early in thé
Season, the most lateral of the tail-feathers • had 'notbegun
to curve" outwards ; the legs were’ feathered to the junction of
the toes, but the toes were naked and pectinated', like those
of. the Black Grouse. Another was recorded in 8 The Field’
of March 15.th, 1868, and a very handsome example, more
like thé Black-cock about the upper parts, was obtained by
Mr. H. E. Dresser in Leadenhall Market, the 12th October,
1876.
. In Scandinavia the Black Grouse occasionally mates.with
the Dal-Ripa or Willow-Grousë (Lkgopas 'alb'us),r the'representative
there of bur Scotch Grouse; the offspring being
known as “ Rypeorre ” or “ Riporrè.” A representation of bnel
of these hybrids is given on 'the opposite page fronhMflsen’s
£ Skaridinavisk Faunae* A far rarer7 hybrid is the onebltWeen
the Black "and the HazèlGrbuse CBonasd b&tuliMa) described
and exhibited by Mr. Dresser (P .# . S., ié?6', f? 845)-. *-7
, In this'-country''the hybrids 'best known 'are those
between, -the i:Black{ Grouse and the Pheasant. The
* Mh “U&llitï fif Christiania rifaintains, in .opposition tp '4qsp" other naturalists^
that this hyhrid is the.Result of a. union between hie male.of Lagopus gibus anil
the female of Tetrao tetrix; and his arguments are given at great lerigth in his-
‘ Remarks on.the Ornithology of *Narther-npKor-way, ’ published iu the Forhand-
linger Vidènstabs-Selskahet i Christiania,’ 18t3. and partly reproduced
in M fjn re ^ ê r's ’ófJEurapé, ’ -Vu* pp.’ The reader
should bear in mind ^that whenever Mr. Cblletï uses’our word ‘Ptarmigan’
in the-'above-pages, he refers to the;WillowiGfeöusè,' 'and- not 'to Lagopus mutus.,
first on record is the bird''.noticed by. Gilbert White, <of
Selbornêj jj§S which a Coloured representation is given in
seme orthe editions of his work. , The subject being then
new, the real character of that specimen was a matter of.
doubt, till more recent -experience, and other examples«,
seemed to -confirm its origin. In • June, 1884, the late Mr.
Sabine called -the -attention of .members present at a
meeting “óf -the Zoological:Soei|ity-fe a specimen .of a hybrid
.bird, between the ’common Pheasant zand the Grey-hen,
which was exhibited-. Its legs 'wease partially feathered.;
it bore on the shoulder" a white 'spot, and its middle tail-
feathers were lengthened. Pt^ivas bred, in ^Cornwall, and
belonged to Sir WiÜiamJjCall (j||fz. -S.a -18B4, p.*'52^.
In 1835, the late Mr. T. XXfEyton., residing near Wellington,
-Shropshire^sent up for^exhibition.' lb the .Zoological
Society a hybrid bird .itótween theo^jk Pheasant and the
Grey-hen, with a n|tb, as follows1:—“ For zsome years past,
a single Grey-hen has .been -seen -in; thb neighbourhood ^
the Merrington covers* belonging p pRbber t A. Slaney, Esq.,