2i6 THE RED GROUSE 



is wholly without armour, offensive or defensive ; yet its numbers 

 are undiminished. And we may contidently say that, as long as 

 there are large tracts of land in Great Britain unreclaimed, there 

 will be Grouse. 



Red Grouse must, occasionally, fall in the way of the wanderer 

 over the Scottish moors, whatever may be the object of his rambles ; 

 but a sportsman alone is privileged to make the bird his study at 

 all seasons. My sketch, therefore, of the Grouse is to be considered 

 as taken, not from the limited observation which I have been enabled 

 to make, when I have chanced to start a bird on the hills of West- 

 moreland or the Higlilands, but to be compiled from the notes of 

 others who have had more ample means of observing its habits. 



" The Brown Ptarmigan, generally known by the name of Red 

 Grouse, as compared with the Black Grouse, is met with in Scotland 

 on all kinds of surface, provided it be covered with heath, whether 

 Calluna vulgaris (Ling) or Erica cinerea (Common Purple Heath), 

 from the level of the sea to the height of about two thousand feet. 

 The low sandy heaths of the eastern counties of the middle division 

 appear to be less favourable to it than the more moist peaty tracts 

 of the western and northern districts, where the shrubs on which 

 it feeds attain a great size." 



Its food appears to be much the same as that of the Black Grouse, 

 to which it is similar in many of its habits ; but it never perches 

 on trees. It has, moreover, a decided predilection for the national 

 grain of Scotland. Hence the cultivation of small tracts of land 

 with oats in the neighbourhood of moors where it abounds is an 

 unprofitable labour. 



Its name, Lagopus (Hare-footed), is equally appropriate as descrip- 

 tive of its thickly-clothed foot and its fleetness as a runner ; by some 

 French ornithologists it is enumerated among Velocipedes, for the 

 latter reason. On ordinary occasions it does not fly much, but keeps 

 concealed among the heath, seldom choosing to rise unless its enemy 

 comes very near. Red Grouse pair early in the season, and build 

 their nests generally on the borders between heath and lea ground, 

 with a view to providing their young with an open nursery-ground, 

 on which to learn the use of their legs, as weU as a safe retreat on 

 the approach of danger. The nest is loosely constructed of straws 

 and twigs which may chance to lie about near the selected spot. 

 The number of eggs is usually eight to ten ; the hen sits very closely, 

 allowing the shepherd almost to trample on her before she springs. 

 The period of hatching is a perilous one for the chicks, for, as they 

 break the shell, they utter a small but shrill chirp — a certain signal 

 to some watchful Hooded Crow that a prey is at hand ; he traces up 

 the sound, drives the mother from her nest, and destroys the whole 

 brood. 



Once fairly hatched, the danger decreases ; the young birds, 

 while still quite small, show great readiness in concealing themselves. 



