282 Northern Observations of Inland Birds 



closely preserved moors, and thus they acquire the habit 

 of seeking shelter by crouching rather than by rising 

 awing. Needless to say this bird is far safer squatting 

 down in the heather when falcon or eagle passes, than 

 he is in the air. 



If the weather is wild and wet, it is generally very 

 difficult to obtain good sport. The birds do not seek 

 the dense cover for shelter from rain as they do from 

 hailstorms, but instead they seek the bleakest and most 

 open spots, where they perch themselves on the boulders 

 or on the barren mounds, with feathers tightly packed 

 and head-on to the wind. During wet weather a grouse 

 will sit for hours on top of a boulder facing the storm, 

 while the rain streams down his feathered legs and from 

 his tail tip. If shot, however, and given a slight shake, 

 it will be seen that his feathers are perfectly dry, though 

 immediately he is dead they begin to absorb the moisture, 

 and if still exposed to the weather his coat will soon 

 become saturated. 



This applies to practically all other birds. Wild duck, 

 for instance, swim and dive without so much as becoming 

 moist below the surface feathers, but if a wild duck be 

 shot and he fall into the water, his plumage at once 

 becomes saturated. 



Thus it is evident that birds are able to control the 

 *' waterproof ness '' of their feathers, and this is probably 

 done by the working of the muscles which control the 

 roots. The theory has, how^ever, been advanced that 

 the process is electrical, and that on the bird's death the 

 electrical influence ceases to operate. 



Grouse depend very largely upon their protective 

 colouring, and certain it is that they know very well 

 whether or not their immediate surroundings harmonize 

 with their own shades. Near my home in West York- 

 shire, numbers of moorgame used to come down to the 



