THE GROUSE AND OTHER BIRDS 47 



hen," of which three species are placed in the genus 

 Tympanuchus. The United States have, undoubtedly, 

 a great variety of grouse-like birds. Nevertheless, a year 

 ago I met in Paris an American from the neighbourhood 

 of Boston who told me that he should have to desert his 

 native land and come to live in Europe, because he could 

 not obtain a regular supply of game-birds for his table in 

 the eastern States. He was eating a Scotch grouse at 

 the time with evident satisfaction. 



The supply of grouse in this country has been 

 threatened by disease caused by the attempt to make 

 the moors carry more birds than they would do under 

 natural conditions. The number annually shot on 

 British moors is enormous. Predaceous animals have 

 been destroyed in order to increase the number of birds, 

 but this proceeding has resulted in allowing the weakly 

 to survive. The undisturbed stretches of moorland have 

 also of late years been greatly broken into both by roads 

 and building, and by the too abundant visitation of 

 strangers of all kinds. Only a few years ago one moor- 

 owner was able to boast that he had on several occasions 

 killed over 500 head of grouse in a single day on his 

 moor, and that in one season he and his guests had 

 killed 18,231 head of grouse on that same moor! 

 Personally I rejoice when grouse are abundant, but it 

 seems to me possible that the moor above mentioned 

 had been made to carry, so to speak, too heavy a crop. 

 However, there is reason to hope that the balance of 

 Nature is restored after a few years of disease, which kills 

 off the too-abundant bird population. 



