30 BIRDS OF LOCH AND MOUNTAIN 



near a Grouse moor, they take enormous toll of 

 the " bonny brown birds." Often the Eagle will 

 chase a covey of Grouse without any apparent 

 reason other than that of enjoying himself, and 

 it is astonishing to see how easily he catches them 

 up without a movement of his wings, although 

 his victims are flying for their very lives. Usually 

 in an Eagle's eyrie containing a couple of Eaglets 

 will be found a Grouse or two perfectly fresh and 

 half plucked, for the Eagles always make a point 

 of thoroughly plucking all their prey before offering 

 it to their young. I once saw a cock Grouse 

 which had fallen out of an eyrie, with his crop 

 packed full of tender heather shoots, showing that 

 he had made a hearty meal just before being cap- 

 tured by the king of birds. 



As the summer wears on, the Grouse form into 

 packs ; and as early as August i8th I have seen 

 fully fifty together, flying high and steady, as 

 though changing their feeding grounds. 



During the winter months they often have 

 difficulty in obtaining sufficient food when all 

 the country side is covered with a deep coating 

 of snow. Then they descend to the fields, and 

 wander about amongst the stubbles, picking up any 

 grains of corn they can find. If the harvest is a 

 backward one, and the crops are not all secured 

 before the snow comes, the farmers in the upland 

 districts often suffer great damage to their crops, 

 as the Grouse descend in large numbers, and w r ould 

 devour nearly every grain of corn if the farm 

 hands were not constantly sent to the fields to 

 scare them off. 



