WINTER 265 



Such are the existing conditions of grouse-life in the 

 Arctic — in Spitsbergen and Lapland, and throughout 

 the whole of Arctic Scandinavia, throughout, in fact, 

 all circumpolar lands. Yet here, in these temperate 

 British Isles, our insular form of Lagofius — segregated 

 since thousands of years— yet retains the memory of 

 primeval necessities no longer prevalent ; for, on every 

 heavy snowfall, the red grouse will already, within 

 twenty-four hours, have commenced a system of burrow- 

 ing and snow-tunnelling, while the snow still remains 

 soft and porous, as though the recurrence of yet another 

 " glacial epoch" was still a living apprehension in their 

 minds. 



Here, however, hybernal conditions, at their worst, 

 are not analogous ; for the whole land is never snow- 

 bound. Strong winds sweep clear the weather-slopes of 

 the hills, and to such spots the moorgame resort in large 

 packs, finding there both feeding-ground and immunity 

 from man ; since the blown snow from the ridges above, 

 forms impenetrable drifts below. Moorgame can also 

 find food where sheep have partially uncovered the 

 heather ; and thus suffer but little inconvenience from the 

 utmost severities of weather. Their chief danger arises 

 from their sometimes appearing to lose their bearings, 

 owing to the absence of their accustomed landmarks. 



During such weather, one frequently sees numbers of 

 grouse perched upon trees, especially on thorns. This is 

 contrary to their usual habit (though I have noticed a few 

 instances of it in open weather), and recalls the custom 

 of their northern cousins, the willow-grouse. Should we 

 be visited by a period of severe winters (say a few 

 centuries), our red grouse would presumably revert to 

 this form, acquiring the white breast (some approach to 



