Black-game 141 



Filially, I have touched upon a Hairy Caterpillar whicli 

 does not occur in this country, but is common in parts 

 of Europe, and which in the localit\' wliere I observed 

 them, seemed likely to destro\' all the coniferous trees 

 within reach. 



The greater part of this chapter is therefore concerned with 

 plants or insects, and only indirecth^ with birds. Of the two former 

 subjects, I must confess at once that I have no claim to speak with 

 any authority. My acquaintance with the sciences of Botan\' and 

 Entomology is of the slightest. So that, while I must ask you 

 to accept my obser\-ations as facts, I would caution you that any 

 theories I may deduce from their consideration should be viewed 

 with suspicion. 



TT. Black-game — Crops. 

 October, 1907. 



In the latter half of October, 1907, I was shooting at Barcaldine 

 with four other guns, and amongst the game obtained were a number 

 of Black-game, male and female. 



I examined the contents of the crops of all the birds shot, and 

 carefully recorded them. 



At this season of the year, \ery few of the Black-cock had come 

 into the w^oods and birch patches ; at least we seldom found them 

 there. They were mostly out on the open moor or in the brackens 

 covering the lower slopes of the hill. 



Over the entire moor, from one end to the other, wherever we 

 went, we found the large, hairy larvae of the Fox Moth {Bombyx 

 riibi) in quite extraordinary abundance. It was difficult to avoid 

 treading on them as we walked, and I believe we could have gathered 

 thousands in the day, had we set about collecting them. Their food 

 is the heather, and it is probable that the quantities of larvae observed 

 by us must have taken rather a heavy toll of the valuable plant. 



These hairy caterpillars were not eaten by the game birds. 

 Out of a large number of Black-game, Grouse and Ptarmigan 

 examined, I never found a solitary example in any one of their 

 crops, though an occasional smooth-skinned larva was present. 

 The Grouse and the Black-game must have been moving about all da\- 

 long among these hosts of hairy caterpillars, yet never a one would 

 they touch. The Ptarmigan living above the level of the heather 

 growth would probabh" not come in contact with them ; at an\' 

 rate, none of the crops I opened contained an example. 



The abundance of these larvje, and their immunity from attack 

 by birds — at least b\' game birds — led me to wonder what natural 

 enemies the\- had to face, which would keep their nvjimbers in check 

 and prevent their overrunning the land like an Egyptian plague. 



