MOORFOWL, RED GROUSE, or. in books of natural history,RED PTARMIGAN or BuowN PmumiroAN (Lagopus .Seolieus), a bird peculiar to the British islands, and more amusement to sportsmen than any other kind of feathered game in Britain. It is the bird generally known in Britain by the name grouse, although not a true species of ' grouse, hilt rather of ptarmigan (q.v.). The toes are completely feathered, as well as the legs; the bill is very short, and its base much concealed by feathers. The length of the moorfowl is about 16 in., of which about 4 in. belong to the tail. The tail is nearly square. The wings are short. The plumage is of a deep chestnut-brown color, marked on the back and wing-coverts with black spots, and on the under parts with undulating black lines; the four middle tail-feathers. are also marked with transverse black lines. Above the eyes is a. naked space (the cere), of a bright scarlet color. The moorfowl is plentiful in the moors of Scotland and the Hebrides, Wales, the north of England. and
Ireland. , It feeds on the tender tops of heath, crowberries, bilberries, etc.: and not unfrequently visits the fields of oats and other grain in the vicinity of the moors, par ticularly when the stooks remain long in the field in late and rainy harvests. The moor fowl is not polygamous,: and -pairs in spring,-when the plumage—particularly of the male—assumes a lighter and l•d(14r tint. The female lays froth eight to fifteen eggs. The nest is on the ground, often under shelter of a tuft of heath. The young run about very soon after they are hatched, " Grouse" remain in coveys (broods) from time time they are hatched till late in the autumn, after which they "pack" or assemble in large bodies. A cream-colored variety of moorfowl is sometimes found in the north of Eng land. The moorfowl is easily domesticated, and breeds readily in an aviary, if supplic':d with heath for food. •