BIRDS OF MOORLAND AND LOCH. 



93 





COCK GROUSE ON A STONE. 



species, in the exuberance of their joy when com- 

 pleting this song, throw back their heads, and 

 elevate their tails, until they almost touched each 

 other. They also have another note, generallv 

 uttered whilst they are on the ground, which is 

 an exceedingly plain and emphatic cock-away, 

 cock-away. All sounds made by the male red 

 grouse have so much of the quality of the human 

 voice in them that they have frequently been 

 mistaken by people unacquainted with the wild 

 life of the moors. 



Some years ago an old man named Birkbeck, 

 living amongst the Westmoreland Fells — where 

 the name is pronounced Birbeck — had a little 

 domestic tiff with his wife in the middle of 

 the night, and decided to end matters rather 



