RED GROUSE. 36 1 



turf batteries. Though richly coloured it is well hidden amongst 

 the irregularities and varied shades of the rough moor ; it lies 

 low, rising when disturbed with a startling whirr, and flies just 

 above the heather, turning sideways as it takes advantage of the 

 undulations or steep slopes of the doughs or corries. Its call, 

 a loud crow, is used as a challenge as it stands, head erect 

 and red wattle raised, on some tussock or mcund, but its alarm, 

 when flushed, is a rapid kok, kok, kok, as it flies, and a clear 

 goback, goback^ j^oback, when it alights at a safe distance and 

 runs amongst the tussocks. The young feeds largely on 

 insects, especially caterpillars, though they take a few leaves 

 and shoots of ling and other plants ; the old birds subsist 

 mainly on shoots, leaves, and seeds of heather, ling, crowberry, 

 bilberry, and other plants of the "tops," and in autumn on the 

 abundant moorland fruits. Seeds of grasses and rushes are 

 eaten, but raids on cornfields are exceptional. When, in winter, 

 the moor is snow-clad for weeks at a lime the Grouse usually 

 descend to lower ground ; I have seen pack after pack flying 

 down during a blizzard, and in some parts there is apparently 

 regular local migration from the higher to the lower ground. 

 Mr. Abel Chapman, however, states that on the Borders the 

 Grouse tunnel under the snow to obtain their food and are thus 

 concealed from view. Water, easy to obtain on the hills, is 

 necessary for the bird, but the young are apt to drink too much, 

 with fatal results. Grit, too, is essential to aid digestion, as 

 indeed it is with most birds, and it is common to see Grouse on 

 the unfenced moorland roads picking up grit, or enjoying a sun 

 or dust bath. The Red Grouse is normally hardy, but disease 

 sweeps off great numbers, doubtless because of over-stocking 

 and the interference with natural laws which would weed out 

 the weaklings and strengthen the surviving stock. The care of 

 a moor is only necessary because we wish to improve upon 

 Nature, who will not countenance abundance at the expense of 

 other creatures. 



