History of British animals - University of Guam Marine Laboratory

44 BIRDS. GALLINAD.E. Perdix.Tetrao seu Urogallus minor, Will. Orn. 124 Sibb. Scot. 16. T. tetLinn. Syst.i. 274 —Perm. Brit. Zool. i. p. 266 T. birkhan, Temm. ii.p. 460. ; E, Heath-hen, Black -game, Black-grouse or Moor-hen ; S,Black-cock ; W, Ceiliog du ; G, Coileach dubh—In wild and woodeddistricts.Length 23, breadth 34 inches ; weight 48 ounces. Bill black. Irides hazel. Abare scarlet granulated spot over the eye. Head, neck, and body, glossy black,with a bluish tinge. Quills 26, the four first black, the others white at the bottomforming a white bar on the wing. Under coverts white. Tail of 16 feathers,nearly 7 inches long, square at the ends, the two or three external ones,on each side, 4 inches longer than the others. Under coverts white. The femaleis less, of a brown colour, barred and mottled with black, and the lateral tailfeathersare but little produced, and not recurved. Eggs 6 or 7, dirty white,with brown blotches. The young follow the mother. Food, consists of mountain-berries,heath, and birch-tops, and even corn. Dr Walker found the stomachstuffed with the leaves of Polypodium vvlgare, after the bird had lived inwoods during winter, (Hebrides, i. 337.) In Russia, this species iscaught by" stakes, pointed at both ends, driven into the ground, approaching near eachother at the bottom, but diverging at the top, so as to resemble a funnel or invertedcone. To the top of each stake is tied an oat-straw, with the grain onit. A long stake stands up in the middle of this machine, likewise crownedwith oats. To this is attached a horizontal stick, vacillating freely within thecone. The birds come to eat the oats, and light on this stick. It gives way,and lets them fall into the cone, where not being able to use their wings,they remain prisoners." (Mem. Acad. Imp. des Scien. Peter, i. 189. p. 321.(Annals, of Phil. iii. 223.)It may be proper to take some notice in this place of a bird, long consideredas a hybrid between the cock of the wood and the black-cock. It is the T.hybridus of Sparman, (Mus Carls, fasc. i. tab. 15.) T. intermedins of LangsdorfF,(Mem. Acad. Peter, iii. 181 1, p. 236.) The Tetras rakkelhan of Tern. Orn. ii.p. 459. In this species the feathers of the throat are a little produced ; head,neck and breast, black, with bronze and purple reflections ; back and rumpwith ash-coloured dots. Length 27 inches. The female is unknown. Thisspecies is noticed as a native of Scotland by Brisson, under the name of Lecoq de bruyere piquete, and a Scottish gentleman told Dr Tunstall, who informedDr" Latham, that it existed in our woods. The subject merits attention.II. Tarsus naked.Gen. III. PERDIX. Partridge.— Cheeks with a nakedskin.The three first feathers in the wing shorter than thefourth. Tail even and short.4. P. cinerea. Common Partridge.— Bill and legsbluishgreyface and throat reddish-brown.;P. ruffa, Merr. Pin. 173 P. cin. Will. Orn. 118—Sibb. Scot. 16.—Penn.Brit. Zool. i. 274 Temm. Orn. ii. p. 488. ; W, Cor-iar :G, Ceare-thomainIn the neighbourhood of corn-fields.Length 13, breadth 20 inches; weight 15 ounces. Plumage a mixed cinerousbrown and black. Behind the eye a naked red warty skin. On thebreast a deep bay-coloured mark in the form of a horse-shoe. Quills 23, brown.Tail of 16 feathers, brown, the four middle ones like the back. The female issmaller, the head less bright, and the ear-coverts are greyish.The mark onthe breast is white for the first year, afterwards more or less like the maleand by the third year is no longer a mark of distinction. Eggs from 12 to 20,of a wood-brown colour. Period of incubation three weeks. Young leave