112 GAME BIRDS. 



year. The same author, in his sporting marches, encamped at 

 the source of the Dalmon. '* The game on these moors," says 

 he, " is innumerable. In a mile long, and not half a one broad, 

 I saw, at least, one thousand brace of moorgame." Such days of 

 plenty will scarcely ever be seen again. Since the communication 

 between the countries has been facilitated, by good roads, ready 

 conveyance, and excellent accommodation, parties have been 

 continually formed in England and Ireland, to make sporting 

 tours in the Highlands of Scotland, and slaughter is the word. 



Mr. Grierson, of Eathfarnham, County Dublin, had a cock 

 grouse in captivity for thirteen years, during which time it proved 

 a most faithful sentinel, never permitting a stranger to enter 

 (which it would at once recognize), without a challenge. He has 

 bred them in a domestic state. They have likewise been bred in 

 the aviary of the Duchess Dowager of Portland. Lord Stanley 

 asserts his knowledge of their breeding in captivity, and a very 

 near neighbour of mine has bred them, within a few doors of me, 

 on Bachelor's-walk, Dublin. A hybrid variety, between a bantam 

 cock and female grouse, has been bred in an aviary near Dublin. 



Ants' eggs, grasshoppers, and other insects, are the favourite 

 food of the young ; as a substitute, alum-curd or hard-boiled egg 

 will answer the purpose of feeding them. They are particularly 

 partial to grasshoppers, which is the best food they can get from 

 the first month. In confinement, they are very easily tamed, and 

 become familiar, are hardy and healthy. Adult birds are partial 

 to boiled potatoes and raw apples ; they must likewise have an 

 occasional supply of green heath. 



The red grouse pairs very early ; if mild, in January, and the 

 female commences laying at the end of March. The eggs are de- 

 posited in a shallow hollow, at the foot of some tuft of heath, which 

 affords a partial covering and shelter, and only a few dry grasses 

 serve to separate them from the ground. Both parents attend and 

 boldly defend the nest or young from the ordinary aggressors. 

 The young leave the nest almost as soon as hatched, and continue 

 to follow the hen till the severity of the winter sets in, when they 

 unite in packs. They continue together, in the greatest harmony, 

 till the approach of spring, when, beginning to feel the access of 

 genial desire, the males view each other with a jealous eye, and 

 furious battles are the consequence. 



The care and stratagem of the hen, for the security of the young, 

 are wonderful. If she sees a dog approach her brood, she will 

 throw herself on the ground, directly before his nose, with 

 screaming, and manifest at the same time, an apparent incapacity 



