THE RED GROUSE 141 



these hill slopes, causing nearly every Grouse which had 

 commenced to brood to forsake its nest. Under such 

 circumstances the majority of the birds produce a second 

 clutch of eggs at a later date, only the broods reared from 

 these second hatchings rarely exceed five in number. 



But hen Grouse often remain bravely on their nests 

 during the heaviest falls of snow, and may become as- 

 phyxiated by the absence of air beneath the closely-packed 

 layer which envelops them. After a certain May storm 

 a keeper on a high-lying grouse moor came across no fewer 

 than nine Grouse dead on their nests during the course of 

 a single morning's walk. That a hen Grouse remembers 

 her nest, even when it is inaccessible to her for several days 

 on account of the snow which covers it, is borne out by 

 an instance which came to my knowledge of such a bird 

 returning to her nest after a week's storm and then suc- 

 ceeding in hatching off her eggs — which, it goes without 

 saying, she had not commenced to brood upon when the 

 storm commenced. 



The following interesting account has been given 

 me by a well-known sportsman and naturalist. A hen 

 Grouse had her nest on a steep hill face near his shoot- 

 ing lodge, and through a powerful glass the hen could 

 be seen covering her eggs, which were eight in number. 

 One day, on looking at the nest, my informant could see 

 that the eggs had become displaced, and that the bird 

 was attempting to pull them back uphill into the nest, 

 using her chin as a lever. He thereupon climbed the hill 

 face, to find every one of the eggs outside the nest and 

 the bird brooding where the eggs had formerly reposed. 

 Many deer-tracks led across the hill, and, in all probability, 

 the bird had been disturbed hurriedly and had scattered 

 her clutch on her precipitate departure. The eggs were 

 now replaced and the nest built up on the downhill side. 

 A week later, about nine o'clock in the morning, it was 



