Food-plants i47 



it exists in quantity at Barcaldine on tlie summit of the two big 

 hills (2,324 feet and 2,687 feet), and is found in the woods right down 

 to the loch side. The fruit is ripe in September, but so eagerly is 

 the plant sought after bv sheep and cattle. Black-game, Grouse and 

 Ptarmigan, that it is quite difficult to hnd a specimen that is allowed 

 to grow to fruiting size, except in some steep, rocky ravine where it 

 escapes the attention of both quadrupeds and birds. 



At 2,500 feet, the plant is quite plentiful, and it is seldom one 

 shoots a Ptarmigan at any time of the year (unless there be deep 

 snow) witliout finding a fair proportion of the leaves and stunted 

 stems of the bhebcrry in the crop. But it is only leaves that the 

 Ptarmigan secure, as the scour of the wind on the hill-top and the 

 constant attention of the sheep and tlie birds keep the plant close 

 trimmed, and nex'er allow it to grow to its normal size and fruit. 

 Down in the woods clothing the lower slope of the hill, fallows-deer, 

 cattle and Black-game hunt after it, but, owing to protection 

 from the surrounding trees and undergrowth, the plant holds its 

 own to some extent, and may bear fruit. Next to the buds of the 

 birch, it is the most important winter food for Black-game, and I 

 have shot more than one Black-cock in December with a fully 

 distended crop, the contents of which, on examination, were found 

 to consist of nearl}' equal proportions of the green but leafless 

 stems of the bilberry, cut up into half-inch lengths, and birch 

 buds with a certain amount of twigs pulled off witli the bud. 



The food plant that comes next in importance is the Crowberrv 

 {Empetrutn nigrum). [The Gaelic name of this plant, or rather 

 the English rendering of the Gaelic name, is Ravensberry, and it 

 seems a little difficult to account for the association of tlie crow tribe 

 with this particular berry. , 



It is a dwarf spreading shrub, which fruits freel\- in the autumn, 

 and the shoots are eaten by the game all the year round. 



It is essentialh- the plant of the Ptarmigan. At Barcaldine, 

 I do not think the crowberrv grows much under 1,500 feet ; from 

 1,500 feet to 2,600 feet, which is our highest top, it is plentiful on 

 most parts of the hills ; where it is absent, it is noticeable that the 

 Ptarmigan are generally absent too. In fact, the Ptarmigan- 

 ground commences at about the same level as the crowberrv, and the 

 distribution of the one appears to be dependent on the presence of 

 the other. 



In the autumn, wlien the dark blue berries are ripe, they are 

 greedily devoured by the Ptarmigan. The droppings of the birds 

 are stained a deep purple, and the crops of those shot will be found 

 loaded with the fruit and leaves of the plant, together with blueberry 

 and perhaps a twig or two of heather. 



But the real importance of the Crowberry as a food-plant makes 

 itself evident later on, when the " tops," which the Ptarmigan 

 frequent, are covered with snow. This sturdy creeping plant cares 

 little for wintr\- cold. It stands sufficientlv high to be seldom 



