RED GROUSE.
GOR, OR MOOR-COCK. MOOR, OR MUIR-FOWL. RED-GAME. RED, OR BROWN PTARMIGAN.
FIGURES 26 & 27.
Tetrao, or Lagopus Scoticus is the scientific name of this species; the meaning of the first term is already explained, the second comes from Lagos—a hare, and pous—a foot, and is given to this bird because it has the lower joints of the leg, and even the toes, feathered, differing in this respect from the other kinds of Grouse. Scoticus means Scotch, and indicates the country in which the species most abounds, although it is also found in various parts of England and Wales; it is, however, peculiar to Great Britain, and therefore the name Britannicus has been suggested as a more appropriate generic name for it.
The Red Grouse is, perhaps, the most highly-prized of all game birds, and the wonder is that it continues so abundant, notwithstanding the annual slaughter which takes place in its breeding and feeding grounds, which are mostly the open moors and hill-sides, where there is plenty of heath and ling, and other low-growing plants of the like nature. It is especially partial to the heather, which affords it both shelter and food. It also feeds on various grasses and mountain berries, and grain when its home is near cultivated districts, which it generally, however, avoids, retiring as far as possible from the presence of man, as though it knew and feared him as its greatest enemy.
The nest of the Muir Cock, as the Scotch call it, is formed of heather and grass, with a few of the soft downy feathers of the bird, and is placed in a hollow of the ground among the heath. The first eggs are laid in March or April; they are usually six or seven in number, although sometimes they amount to twelve and even more; they vary considerably in colour, the ground being usually a greyish white, with more or less of a reddish brown or yellow tinge. They are thickly dotted or clouded with dark grey and brown; the shape is a regular oval.
The Heath Poults, as the young are called, leave the nest directly they are hatched, as do most of the game birds, and are very soon able to fly. At first they lie close, and may almost be trodden upon, but they get more wild and wary as the shooting-season advances; this commences in August.
PTARMIGAN.
WHITE GAME, OR GROUSE. IN GAELIC, PTARMICHAN.
FIGURE 28.
Rich as is the plumage of the Red Grouse, with its beautiful markings, and warm sienna tint, which prevails throughout every part except the snowy legs, yet we are inclined to give the preference to this, its close relative, for elegance of appearance. It is all over of a pure delicate white, except just the points of the toes, the larger tail feathers, the bill, and a patch on each side of the head, which surrounds the eye, all of black; there is also, as in every other species of Grouse with which we are acquainted, a semicircular patch, like a piece of crimson velvet over each eye. The edges of the white feathers are delicately pencilled, as we see them in the Silver Pheasant, so that they appear perfectly distinct from each other. This is the winter dress, according well with the snowy regions which the bird chiefly inhabits. In summer the plumage in parts becomes brown and yellowish grey of different shades; this dress also assimilating well with the lichen-covered rocks of those Alpine solitudes where the Ptarmigan must be sought. With us it is found only in the Grampians, and others of the Scottish mountains; there it dwells in seldom-disturbed security, feeding upon such plants as grow in these elevated places, in winter descending lower, to obtain a better supply of food, but never venturing into the plain.
Its eggs, which vary from seven to twelve in number, are sometimes laid on the bare earth, under the shadow of a rock or some plant; their colour is white, with sometimes a green, yellow, or reddish tinge; they are blotted and spotted with dark brown. The laying does not commence until June; incubation lasts three weeks. The young at first feed on insects.
The scientific name of this bird is Tetrao lagopus, the meaning of which has already been explained, and Lagopus vulgaris, that is, common, or mutus—changeable, in allusion to the variation in the colour of the plumage.