482 RED GROUSE. 



counties — especially Yorkshire and Derbyshire — down the Pennine 

 range as far as the Trent, as well as in l.ancashire, Cheshire, 

 Staffordshire, Shropshire, and on most of the Welsh moors to 

 Glamorganshire ; but to the south-east of these lines it has never 

 succeeded in maintaining itself, though introduced on the heaths of 

 Surrey and elsewhere. It is resident on most of the moorlands and 

 peat-bogs of Ireland, but is far less abundant there than in Scotland 

 or the north of England. About twenty years ago it was accli- 

 matized in the district of Gottenborg, South Sweden. 



Red Grouse pair very early in spring, the female making a 

 scanty nest in some depression in the ground, under shelter of a 

 tuft of heather. The eggs, usually 8-10, though sometimes 15 in 

 number, are of a bufifish-white ground-colour, mottled with rich 

 red or brown: average measurements i'75 by i'2 in. Instances 

 are on record of their having been found as early as March 17th, 

 but incubation does not become general until April. The female 

 sits very close, the male being usually at no great distance, while 

 on the approach of danger he emits a warning kok, kok, kok. He 

 is also in the habit of standing on a hillock and uttering a peculiar 

 crow at dawn, especially on clear frosty mornings ; the note of the 

 hen being a strange nasal croak. The young leave the nest soon 

 after they are freed from the shell, and, with their parents, feed on 

 the leaves and fruit of the bilberry &c., the tips of ling- and 

 heather-shoots, and, occasionall)', grain ; the principal feeding-time 

 being, as a rule, late in the afternoon. Unlike its congener the 

 Willow-Grouse, our bird has seldom been seen to perch on trees, 

 though it often sits on earth-dykes and walls. In severe snowy 

 weather Grouse are driven from the higher moors to the lowlands, 

 and have been known to wander so far that they seem to have 

 completely lost the bearings of their old haunts. The causes of the 

 disease to which they are subject have been- — and still are — much 

 disputed ; but there was a severe outbreak as long ago as June 181 5 

 in the Reay country, Sutherlandshire (Zoo). 1887, p. 302). 



The plumage varies considerably, especially as regards the under 

 parts, on which a good deal of white is sometimes observed in 

 winter. The male is reddish-brown on the head and neck, and 

 chestnut-brown — barred and speckled with black — on the upper 

 parts ; the feathers of the breast being almost black, with white tips. 

 In summer the general colour is lighter. Length 16 in. ; wing 

 8*4 in. The female (represented in the foreground) is rather 

 smaller, and exhibits much more of a yellowish-chestnut tint. The 

 young moult completely in their first autumn. 



