32 GAME PRESERVERS AND BIRD PRESERVERS. 



clear there will be a pack the less on the ground 

 in the autumn. 



Surely any deterioration in a breed of 

 birds, before showing itself in the form of an 

 epidemic, would show itself in a' steady de- 

 crease in their size and weight, their powers 

 of flight, and in the number of eggs which 

 they would lay each season. We never heard 

 that this was observed before the outbreak of 

 the disease. 



But we seem to have a very clear clue 

 to the reason why, of all birds in the world, 

 the grouse is the one most likely to be attacked 

 by some disease. PlcDty of gentlemen well 

 qualified to form an opinion have noticed this. 

 It is found in the fact that while all other 

 bh'ds feed on a variety of substances, the 

 grouse feed nearly entirely on heather. And 

 in the same way that the Irish population 

 when they depended entirely on the potato 

 sickened and died as soon as the potato disease 

 appeared, so when the heather is seriously 



