146 BRITISH BIRDS. 



that the report both astonishes and gratifies the reader. 

 That the cost of the inquiry, extending over a period of six 

 years, was only £4,336, is sufficient testimony of the liberahty 

 with which every person connected with the inquiry must 

 have given his services. We learn from the Appendix (Vol. 

 II., p. 26) that the Committee, now that they have published 

 their Report, have a debit balance of about £550, which they 

 hope to reduce partially by the sales of the work under review ; 

 and it may here be suggested that were a brochure, on the 

 lines suggested above, published, its sale might well prove 

 a help in \^orking off this debt. 



The frontispiece and the plates, dra^\^l by Dr. Edward 

 A. Wilson, illustrating the various plumages of the Red 

 Grouse, are disappointing. " Young chicks " are not so 

 mature in appearance as is indicated in the former, and the 

 plates drawn from typical skins lack detail to a degree which 

 renders them inartistic, though they serve their purpose 

 in demonstrating the differences in the plumage at different 

 seasons in either sex, and in individuals. 



The present \\Titer is not in a position to criticize the work 

 of the " Doctors," if indeed criticism is possible ; and as regards 

 the sequence of plumages in the Red Grouse, he will not rush 

 in where angels should fear to tread. It is in vain that he 

 has searched the index for the mention of the Rabbit or the 

 Mountain-hare ; nor has he been able, when reading Lord 

 Lovat's remarks, to find any but the most cursor}^ animad- 

 versions on these rodents. The guidance of a capable 

 authority on these subjects would have been welcomed. 



The whole Report has perhaps been written too much from 

 the standpoint of the large proj^rietor of recognized grouse 

 moors. The small proprietors of moor-land are sufficiently 

 numerous to be a source of danger, in any case, to their larger 

 neighbours ; and if observations could have been carried out 

 in districts where Red Grouse are not numerous, and where 

 landlords are less able to cope with the expense of putting 

 their moors in order, the Report might have gained in being 

 more widely beneficial. 



This work is announced as " the Final Report " of this 

 Committee, but if, as is stated (Vol. I., p. 498) " the value 

 of grouse shootings as a factor in the national prosperity " 

 amounts to upwards of £2,000,000 per annum, surely some- 

 thing more than an occasional unpaid Committee is required 

 to be in existence to ad\ase on the maintenance of so valuable 

 an asset ? The Board of Agriculture and Fisheries might 

 well add to its permanent staff, experts in avian matters ; 

 not only to study the welfare of Red Grouse, but also a number 



