THE FOOD OF THE RED GROUSE 



89 



crops of individual birds recorded it would be found that those 

 coming from moors where blaeberry is common would show 

 almost as large a consumption of that plant as of heather. 

 Blaeberry forms as much as 30 per cent, of all foods taken by 

 Grouse in Derbyshire, 22 per cent, in Yorkshire, 11 per cent, 

 in Inverness and Dumfriesshire, and very little in any of the 

 other counties. 



TABLE III, SHOWING THE PERCENTAGES OF VARIOUS FOODS FOUND IN 

 CROP CONTENTS OF GROUSE FROM DECEMBER TO MARCH INCLUSIVE. 



In special cases these averages are departed from, especially 

 when the heather crop has been a failure. Thus,' some Decem- 

 ber specimens from Lancashire showed the remarkable average 

 of 80 per cent, of blaeberry stalks and buds, with only 17J per 

 cent, of heather shoots and 2j per cent, of heather seed, but in 

 this case the heather-seed crop in Lancashire was reported 

 as very bad. In the same year the heather seed crop in Peebles 

 and Merioneth was reported as exceptionally good, and the 

 December specimens from both these counties showed the 

 proportion of 50 per cent, of heather shoots and 50 per cent, 

 of heather seed, but no blaeberry. 



Probably the consumption of other foods, which are classed 

 under " various," and have already been enumerated, varies 



