CLASSIFICATION AND LIFE HISTORY 41 



at their best, both as regards weight and plumage, in November ; 

 but this is only partly true. Their best months are February, 

 August, and December ; and one may say they are at a fair 

 level of condition in those months. 



Various opinions have been expressed as to the age which a Q^use 

 Grouse can attain, and a few observations on the subject may 

 be quoted. On a Yorkshire moor a cock Grouse, which was 

 recognisable owing to its having a broken leg which stuck out 

 prominently at right angles, was known to have lived for nine 

 years in a wild state. An Ayrshire gamekeeper, one of the 

 Committee's correspondents, can vouch for a Blackcock living 

 twelve years, and is of opinion that Grouse live as long. Another 

 correspondent, a Forfarshire gamekeeper, is sure that many of 

 the old cocks on the tops are ten years old, and if appearances 

 go for anything the black old cocks so often killed on the high 

 tops of many moors must have reached this patriarchal age. 

 In view of the many dangers to which they are exposed the 

 wild Grouse seldom gets the chance of dying of old age, and the 

 duration of its life depends more on the severity of the shooting 

 and the numbers of vermin than upon the bird's own longevity. 



Observations on Grouse in captivity tend to support the 

 view that they can live to a considerable age. Unfortunately, 

 in every case reported to the Committee where a tame Grouse 

 has reached the age of ten or twelve years the bird has died an 

 accidental death. 



