Volume 6, Plate XXI / Ornithology (Birds)

Common Black Grouse (Male)

Lagopus tetrix

Lagopus tetrix, the black grouse, is spread over Europe and occurs sparingly in England but abundantly toward Scotland, favouring alpine sheep country with moist meadows and brushy glades of birch, hazel, and alder. Polygamous, the male in breeding dress is rich steel blue above and pitch black below with a white wing bar, forked outward bending tail, and red eye wattle, displaying on knolls with murmuring calls, the female alone rearing the young in chaste brown and greyish yellow.