138 HILL BIRDS OF SCOTLAND 



It cannot be gainsaid that in these big areas under Grouse 

 socialists bring to bear good material for the advancement 

 of their claims. But a fact generally lost sight of —if indeed 

 it be known to those who decry grouse moors — is that the 

 very best grouse ground is that which cannot possibly 

 be put to any other use. Poor peaty soil in situations 

 so exposed that it would not support timber, ground 

 where no sheep could find a living, this is where the 

 Red Grouse makes a congenial home. And even on 

 the lower grounds, wherever one finds moors bearing on 

 them no grass, it may be taken as an accepted fact 

 that the ground possesses but little value from the agri- 

 culturist's point of view. Though Grouse are numerous 

 amongst the peat hags stretching across extensive 

 plateaux 2500 feet above the sea, they are never seen 

 on the highest hills. They never indeed exceed, or even 

 reach, the uppermost limits of the growth of the heather, 

 and may be said to be entirely absent above the 3000- 

 foot level. 



The birds nesting at or near the 3000-foot line find that 

 the heather growing at these exposed altitudes affords 

 but a scant protection to their nests ; they sometimes 

 brood right out in the open in much the same position 

 as a hen Ptarmigan chooses for her nest, but notwith- 

 standing that Grouse and Ptarmigan nest sometimes 

 within a few yards of each other, the two species keep 

 noticeably distinct. . . . The Red Grouse is perhaps 

 the most sedentary of our British birds, and in a sheltered 

 grouse moor the stock is to be found in more or less the 

 same situations all the year through. 



It is probable, however, that the Grouse nesting towards 

 the upper limit of their range move down to more sheltered 

 quarters during severe weather, while a prolonged snow- 

 storm and hard frost at times drive the whole of the birds 

 from a high-lying moor. Sometimes, indeed, these birds, 



