3i8 ENGLISH BIRO LIFE 



merges into day, the Red Grouse is alert. As one 

 listens in the stillness of the dawn, a faint metallic 

 note, uttered several times in succession, reaches 

 the ear; then there is a long pause, and the sounds 

 are repeated. The call-note of the hen Grouse is 

 rarely heard except at daybreak, and is so slight and 

 monotonous that it may easily pass unnoticed. But 

 it is none the less a challenge, and soon, from the dis- 

 tant slope, comes the masterful reply — " Guer-rr-rr, 

 goback, goback, goback," as the old cock rises into 

 the air and brags down again into the darkened 

 heather. In a moment more in response to the 

 reiterated call, his black form hurtles across the 

 moor as he hastens to rejoin his mate. 



The dalesmen learn to imitate the note of the hen 

 Grouse with surprising accuracy, and the bold, 

 reckless approach of the cock renders him an easy 

 prey to the concealed gunner. 



As the feeding Grouse move in little groups, they 

 appear in the distance to be mere grey blots on the 

 carpet of green. But the field-glasses bring them 

 nearly to one's side, and one realizes, perhaps 

 for the first time, what a singularly handsome 

 bird the cock Grouse in full breeding plumage, 

 really is. 



As one watches, he flies from the heath to the 

 summit of a low grey boulder. Here he stands 

 proudly with the duller hued hens grouped about 

 him, and as he raises his head, the crescentic patch 

 of bright vermilion above the eye stands out 

 clearly; one can see every golden and black bar on 

 his back and breast, and even the delicate ermine- 

 like whiteness of his feet. Seen in his home here on 



