324 ENGLISH BIRD LIFE 



upon a reddish-white ground, and are from eight 

 to twelve or fifteen in number. The young, 

 delicate little balls of golden fluff, barred with 

 brown, leave the nest directly they escape from the 

 shell, gathering about the feet of the hen as she 

 leads them to the feeding ground, and brooding 

 beneath her wings at night. 



Throughout the summer and in the earlier part 

 of autumn these family parties keep together, but 

 tow^ards the end of September they combine with 

 others to form vast packs. When packed, the 

 Grouse become extremely vigilant, rising far be- 

 yond the range of the guns, and it is to this habit 

 that the modern svstem of driving is largely due. 

 It may be noted here that the practice of packing 

 is more commonly adopted by Grouse which exist 

 on the broader and more level tracts of heather : 

 those to be found in Yorkshire, for example. In 

 many other localities — in the west of Scotland par- 

 ticularly — where the moorlands are mountainous 

 and diversified by deep heathery corries and pre- 

 cipitous ascents, the Grouse appear to remain in the 

 original broods throughout the whole of the winter. 



Although the Red Grouse is essentially a home- 

 loving bird, and has no trace of the migratory 

 instinct which leads so many of the feathered races 

 to cross the seas, the packs, nevertheless, often 

 make considerable excursions from their native 

 moors to visit those at a distance. Mr. Eagle 

 Clarke states (Yorkshire Vertehrata) that towards 

 the end of October in every year, there is a mi- 

 gration of packs of Grouse from the Duke of 

 Cleveland's moors in Upper Teesdale to Alston in 



