THE LIFE HISTORY OF THE GROUSE 7 



rank. Birds will always nest in a place where they can see all round, if possible, 

 hence their avoidance of long heather.^ -^ ,. 



° Nesting. 



Dry ground is always preferred ; birds will not nest on boggy 

 or damp ground, and are more likely to leave their nests on account of wet 

 than for any other reason. 



On some moors where the heather has been very closely burnt or the stock 

 is unusually large, the Grouse appear to be unable to find nesting ground exactly 

 suited to their requirements, and on these occasions they will boldly depart 

 from their usual habits and will nest in short heather, flat dead bracken, 

 or even on a bare unsheltered piece of burnt ground, leaving the nest as open 

 as that of the Lapwing. It is important to note that in all cases open sites 

 devoid of all covering are preferred to really long overgrown heather. 



The time of nesting varies according; to the season and the latitude. As a 

 rule, most of the eggs are laid by the latter end of April and the beginning of 

 jMay ; but a case has been reported of eggs being found as early as -rj^^g ^^ 

 March 28th, and the Rev. W. B. Daniel records that " on the 5th of i^^t'^i^^s- 

 March, 1794, the Gamekeeper of Mr Lister (now Lord Ribblesdale), of Gisburne 

 Park, discovered on the Manor of Tivitten, near Pendle Hill, a brood of Red 

 Grouse seemingly about ten days old, which could fly about as many yards 

 at a time. This was an occurrence never known to have happened before so 

 early in the year." ^ Macdonald states that the hen begins to lay at the end 

 of March, ^ while Macpherson, writing in the Fur and Feather Series, says that 

 "In the Island of Skye April 24th is a decidedly early date for a full clutch of 

 Grouse eofes." * It is an interesting fact that, from the evidence obtained from 

 many moors, of varying altitudes ranging from the south of Wales to the north 

 of Sutherland, there is a difference of only two or three days in the dates 

 when the earliest eggs are found ; March 30th in Yorkshire and Perthshire, 

 and April 1st on high moors in Inverness and Sutherland are dates 

 frequently recorded for the first nest. The date at which the first clutch 

 is completed varies by a full fortnight on high and low ground and on north 



' Macdonald in "Grouse Disease" makes the following statement : " Tlie happiest condition in which a 

 nest can be found is in growing heather of about a foot in length, and in the immediate proximity of short 

 young heather." (Macdonald, " Grouse Disease," p. 23. London : W. H. Allen & Co., Ltd., 1883.) And 

 in another place he writes : "Grouse never nest amongst old, rough heather, always in a little tuft at the 

 side or among the bent." (Ibid., p 26). Macpherson in the Fur and Feather Series, states that " It is a 

 fallacy to suppose that Grouse like to nest in very old heather." (Fur and Feather Series, "The Grouse," 

 ji. 22. London : Longmans, Green & Co., 1894.) 



a Daniel, " Rural Sports," vol. iii. p. 108. London : Longmans, 1812. 



» "Grouse Disease," p. 99. ' Fur and Feather Series, "The Grouse," p. 21. 



