APPENDIX F 95 



Broken glass beads of various recognisable colours were also tried, but left 

 untouched, thus making the problem of admitting recognisable grits coloured 

 a difficult one. e^^^^- 



With a scarcity of grit soft food is eaten with greater appetite than harder 

 food, hence if corn is put out for Grouse in the winter as an extra qj,jj. 

 feed the greatest care should be taken that the birds have equal ^'jth^hl'S 

 opportunities for supplying themselves with grit. If not they will ^°°^- 

 not use the corn at all, or if they do it will do them as much harm as good. 



Woody seeds undoubtedly bring about a loss of the larger and more permanent 

 grits in the gizzard, and although for a time the seeds do the gizzard's woody 

 work they cannot permanently take the place of the stony grits. ^®'*'^^- 



In both birds experimented upon even after a grit starvation of twenty-one 

 days in one case, and of forty-three days in the other, there was still enough 

 quartz grit in the gizzard to grind up dari and rice grains, as well as to some 

 extent, heather stalks, but the last named were not really sufficiently crushed 

 for proper digestion. 



Castor oil produced purging but no loss of gizzard grits, so the probability 

 is that the mechanical assistance of hard foreign bodies like hard seeds simulating 

 grits will always be found the most efficient agent in removing grits from 

 the gizzard. 



TABLE OF DAILY OBSERVATIONS MADE UPON GRITS PASSED BY (a) DURING 



GRIT STARVATION. 



Grouse A. was a healthy cock Grouse, two years old. 



1908 Weight in ozs. 



Sept. 17 25 Was put on board flooring, and was fed only on dari, 



rice, and heather. No grits or gravel of any kind was 

 given. The droppings were collected and washed for 

 grits daily. 

 First day, quite one hundred small pieces of quartz and 

 flint and a lot of sand were passed. 

 ,, 18 ... The hard formed droppings, when powdered, just filled 



a dipping glass (4 x 1^ inside measurement). 

 About thirty small grits of quartz and flint were passed, 

 and much that was like sand, either the result of 

 attrition in the gizzard or picked up with seeds, etc. 

 from the peaty soil before the experiment was begun. 



