THE WILLOW GROUSE AND PTARMIGAN. 35 



the birds killed in one drive are cocks, while on another beat 

 the reverse obtains. 



Grouse-shooting commences on the 12th of August and 

 ends on the loth of December. During this period enormous 

 numbers of birds are shot, the great majority by driving. In 

 Yorkshire and other parts of the north of England where the 

 moors are of large extent and comparatively level, the birds pack 

 so early in the season, and are then so wild, that driving them 

 is the only means of obtaining a bag. From a sporting point 

 of view, it is hardly necessary to add that the superiority of 

 birds driven at a headlong pace over the guns, as compared 

 with those walked up and shot as they rise, is beyond all 

 question. On some of the rougher moors, when driving is im- 

 possible or nearly so, one may still have the pleasure of seeing 

 dogs used to find the birds, but unfortunately this form of sport 

 is rapidly going out of fashion. In the west of Ross-shire, the 

 Isle of Skye, and the Hebrides the tameness of the Grouse is 

 well-known, and in fine weather the birds lie as close in 

 December as at the beginning of the season, remaining in small 

 coveys and often sitting till nearly trodden on. Grouse are 

 extremely fond of grain, and during the autumn may generally 

 be seen in the morning and evening in numbers on stubble- 

 fields within reach of the moors they inhabit. Periodically the 

 moors are devastated by a terrible scourge known as " Grouse- 

 disease," which sometimes destroys the greater part of the 

 stock in the localities affected. It is now generally agreed that 

 over-stocking is the primary cause, and the disease is almost 

 always most severe in the springs which follow unusually good 

 seasons, when birds have been particularly numerous and were 

 not sufficiently killed down. The liver and intestines are the parts 

 attacked, the former becoming like dull red jelly and of about 

 the same consistency. Although parasitic w^orms are usually 

 specially numerous in birds which have died of the disease, they 

 are in no way the cause of death and are often numerous in 

 perfectly healthy individuals. 



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