THE GROUSE DISEASE. 37 



life, and to succeed in hatching a sickly brood, 

 they would inevitably succumb to the first 

 twenty- four hours of this weather. They 

 would not live long enough to grow wing 

 feathers, and they would never fly before a 

 hawk at all. If gentlemen's moors are too 

 crowded with grouse, or if they have diseased 

 birds on their grounds, let them send the 

 keepers out to shoot them even in the winter 

 months. If they leave their numbers to be 

 reduced by the falcon, it is the strong bold 

 buxls which he will kill, and not the weakly 

 ones, as Dr. Giinther tells the Committee. 



