142 HILL BIRDS OF SCOTLAND 



again noticed that two of the eggs had been in some way 

 displaced. At two o'clock the same afternoon the nest 

 was revisited and the eggs replaced after an absence from 

 the nest of certainly five hours, probably longer. Notwith- 

 standing the various vicissitudes which her future family 

 had undergone, the eggs hatched off safely in due course. 

 The nest of the Grouse is always of the most primitive 

 description, and is generally devoid of even a rudimentary 

 lining. It is usually found amongst long heather or in 

 the shelter of a tussock of grass. It is curious that wet 

 and boggy ground is often chosen — perhaps the fox does 

 not do so much of his hunting here — and I have on more 

 than one occasion found the nest in rushes. Once I heard 

 of a Grouse having her nest and hatching off her eggs on an 

 island on a Highland loch. Although it has been stated that 

 a hen Grouse will readily forsake her nest before she has 

 commenced to brood, I do not think that thitS is the case, 

 and certainly once she has begun to sit she is devoted to 

 her eggs. A friend of mine tells me that his retriever on 

 one occasion pulled several of the feathers out of the tail 

 of a sitting bird without causing her to forsake her nest, 

 and that in the course of his long experience he has only 

 once known of a Grouse deserting her eggs, the occasion 

 being when the bird was caught on the nest and carried 

 some distance in his dog's mouth. A hen Grouse usually 

 sits closely, though she does not equal the Ptarmigan in 

 this respect, and rarely permits of a photograph of her 

 being taken at close quarters. When disturbed she 

 rises with much fluttering of wings and dashes out of 

 sight, flying at great speed. She never, so far as my 

 experience goes, returns to watch what fate befalls her 

 eggs, nor does the cock join her in mid-air. It would 

 thus seem as though she were lacking in courage or confid- 

 ence as compared with the Tarmachan, for the latter 

 bird as often as not refuses to move any distance from her 



