In February the bird is still in the same plumage as in January. In a few forward birds the feathers of the summer dress are beginning February. to make their appearance on the back of the neck about the middle of the month.
In March the change from autumn plumage to spring breeding plumage is, in healthy birds, now quite unmistakable, though many birds are very backward owing to disease. All doubt as to the sex of healthy March. birds, whether from above or below, is now removed. The broad-barred buff and black feathers of the flanks are now appearing, and are most conspicuous and characteristic, while the whole of the lower breast and abdomen covered by the red-brown or red-black finely barred feather of September growth are still in excellent condition and remain unchanged (Pl. ix. The feathers of the chin, throat, neck, and upper breast are now mixed with broad-barred black and yellow feathers in forward birds; while in backward birds the throat and fore-neck may still be clad in copper-red feathers. The legs and feet are already looking worn and less well feathered, but the laws are long.
In April and in May, for the simple reason that many hen Grouse died of "Grouse Disease" in these months during the six years of the Inquiry, the proportion of skins of backward hens is large. The birds thus April and
May picked up dead carry one immediately back again to winter, for although they ought by this time to be putting the finishing touches to their spring plumage, hey are, in fact, but just succeeding in the belated effort to put on the autumn dress. They are thus a clear six months late, and afford the most misleading seasonal characters imaginable. Their legs and feet, instead of being worn and almost moulted clean, are at last, after a winter spent with almost naked legs, well-clothed with thick white feathers. The appearance of the legs therefore in the hens, as in the cocks, is totally misleading to the keeper or to the sportsman who considers bare unfeathered legs to be a sign of "Grouse Disease." This holds good for autumn only, and in spring precisely the opposite is the case, for in April, May, and June none but healthy birds have naked legs and feet. The general character of advanced and healthy birds towards the end of April and in May is that of a complete spring plumage. The whole of the upper parts are broadly barred with buff and black, and marked with conspicuous terminal whitish buff spots or bars (Pl. x. The under parts, again, are
