The Red Grouse is the only game-bird which is not found outside the British Islands. It is the bird which perhaps heads the list in the estimation of British sportsmen, who travel north in hundreds every year for the pleasure of the sport it affords. It is furthermore remarkable for the wonderful variety of the seasonal plumages. Both sexes change their dress twice during the year—the female in spring and summer, and the male in autumn and winter. Its Continental relative, the Ryper, has no less than three changes—spring, summer, and winter. For the last season a white dress is adopted, to correspond with its snowy surroundings. The winters in the British Islands are neither long enough nor severe enough to render such change necessary with the red grouse, which is sufficiently protected by its ordinary dress.
Photo by W. F. Piggott] [Leighton Buzzard.
CAPERCALLIE.
This was once a common British bird. The present breed was introduced some years ago, the native birds having been exterminated.
The largest and perhaps the most interesting of all the European game-birds are the Capercallies, or Capercailzies. The British species is also known as the Cock-of-the-wood. He is a handsome black bird, nearly as big as a turkey, weighing from 9 to 17 lbs.
Photo by W. F. Piggott] [Leighton Buzzard.
COMMON PARTRIDGE.
This is the commoner and more esteemed of the two species of British partridges.