148 Food-plants 



entirely buried ; at any rate in tlie more sheltered places, e.g., the 

 lee-sides of rocks, and so on. Here one finds the footmarks of 

 numerous Ptarmigan tliat have been scratching their dinner out of 

 the snow. Of course, the weather may become so severe, and the 

 fall of snow on the hills so heavy, that the Ptarmigan are driven 

 down below the crowberry limit, and on to the heather-ground, 

 in order to find any subsistence at all. But it is very evident that 

 they are uncomfortable in their new quarters, and they will return 

 to the higher slopes at the earliest possible opportunity. It is 

 probable that their white winter coats are rather a source of danger 

 than protection to them at the lower level. What the heather is 

 to the Grouse, the crowberry is to the Ptarmigan. 



Of the other edible fruits that grow on the low moor, we have 

 the Cranberry [Oxy coccus palustris), the Bearberry [Arctostaphylos 

 uva ursi) and the Cloudberry (Rubus chamcemorus). None of these 

 are of prime importance as food-plants, but the fruits are all eaten 

 by the Grouse, so that a knowledge of their whereabouts is often of 

 service to the shooter pottering about after Grouse in the autumn. 



The Birch {Betiila alba), as I have already indicated, is a most 

 important food plant. From the end of November to the close of 

 February, the buds of this tree are the chief food of the Black-game. 

 On any moor that carries a head of Black-game, these birds will 

 be found in small packs in the birch patches at this season, clinging 

 to the rather slender branches and diligently picking off the buds, 

 and often a good deal of twig along with the bud. The majority 

 of birds shot in December and January will have their crops fully 

 distended with birch buds and twigs and nothing else. 



If for any reason the supply of birch buds fails, the Black-game 

 fall back on the buds of coniferous trees, more especially of the larch, 

 the most valuable timber-tree in the north, and of the Scotch pines. 



The winters of 1909-1910 and 1910-1911 were exceptionally 

 severe on the west coast of Scotland. The early and very severe 

 frosts killed the buds of all the birch trees which were on exposed 

 ground on the open moor. 



The Black-game, deprived of their normal food supply, attacked 

 the coniferous trees. Foresters all over Argyllshire, on Lochaweside, 

 Inverliever, Achnacloich, on Loch Etive side, and even at Taymouth 

 in Perthshire, complained bitterly of their ravages. The very young 

 larch plantations suffered most, in some cases the whole of the trees 

 being irretrievably damaged by the loss of the terminal buds on the 

 leading and lateral shoots. 



Corsican Pines appeared to have escaped entirely. Where 

 the Japanese larch was grown, this was taken in preference to the 

 native larch, but the total damage was very great. On many estates 

 the experience was entirely new. Black-game had always been on 

 the ground, but the coniferous trees had heretofore escaped their 

 serious attention. 



Experienced foresters attribute the attack on the coniferous 



