Field Notes Journal

Selbourne Field Guide Entry

Heath Cock

Category: fauna

The “heath cock” is the male black grouse.

Field Description

A medium-sized grouse with black plumage, red combs, and a distinctive lyre-shaped tail.

In White’s Landscape

Once a characteristic bird of the heath around Selborne.

Today

No longer present in southern England.

Notes

An example of how species distributions have shifted since White’s time.