CLASSIFICATION AND LIFE HISTORY 23 



of grit is most marked. Good grit is to the Grouse what raisins 

 are to Pheasants, and salt to Deer. They often fly long distances 

 to obtain it, and in districts where it is scarce they will congre- 

 gate in numbers along the railways and roads that traverse 

 the moor, in order to avail themselves of the supply thus artifi- 

 cially introduced. 



Towards midday Grouse are generally found on the " tops " 

 and higher grounds, and especially amongst broken moss-hags ; 

 or, if the weather be very hot, they may be flushed from the 

 burn-sides and shaded places ; in very rough weather they do 

 not scorn the shelter afforded by a ledge of rock or bank of 

 peat, and may then be best approached down wind. The 

 best shooting is often got late in the afternoon on the low 

 ground, to which the Grouse have descended to feed before 

 " jugging," with crops crammed with heather shoots. 



When moving from one part of a moor to another Grouse 

 usually fly low, and as their principal time for shifting their 

 ground is in the early morning or at dusk they run a serious 

 risk of death by collision with the wire sheep fences so common 

 on many moors. 



This danger can be to a great extent averted by having 

 all wire fences carefully " bushed " with bits of brushwood. 

 Small branches of larch are best for this purpose, as they can 

 be easily twisted between the wires, and do not readily blow 

 out a fair-sized branch every 5 yards is sufficient. Spruce 

 branches are also used. Telegraph wires are not so common on 

 a moor as fences, and not nearly so dangerous, while the cost 

 of protecting the birds from them by game-guards makes it 

 hardly worth while to consider them. 



The Grouse, like the Domestic Fowl, the Pheasant, and the 

 Partridge, is a " dusting" bird, and wherever a peaty or sandy 

 bank has a sunny exposure, a " scrape," with a feather or two 

 half embedded in the soil, is to be seen. The fine particles 

 of impalpable dust, by getting into the breathing apertures 

 of the troublesome insects which are found on the birds, afford 

 the latter temporary relief. Grouse also like to sun themselves 



