THE FOOD OF THE RED GROUSE 103 



found, including Crane-flies, Bees, and the larger Lepidoptera, 

 as well as a few others which must be regarded as of mere 

 casual occurrence, such as Syrphidce or Hover-flies, the Bombus 

 or Humble-bee, etc. 



The commonest insects in the crops are undoubtedly Diptera Insects 



most com- 



of the family Limnobudce. Seventeen crops contained speci- monly 

 mens that could be referred to this family, and of these no eaten - 

 fewer than fourteen contained the curious little species known 

 as Molophilus ater. In one case there were over one hundred 

 specimens of this fly. This bird was from eighteen to twenty 

 days old, and its crop was gorged with the remains of the fly 

 besides a few tips of heather. Other crops from the same moor, 

 belonging to chicks a week old or less, contained fifty-six, fifty, 

 thirty-four, and eleven examples respectively of the same fly. 

 We may therefore conclude that the species is attractive to the 

 eye and taste of the young chick. It was found plentifully in 

 certain marshy spots where the chicks were known to feed. 



Although the results have been tabulated in various ways, 

 it has been found difficult to trace any outstanding feature 

 regarding the insect food of Grouse chicks. It is sufficient for 

 the present purpose to state that the food of young Grouse is 

 largely made up of insects, that these insects present a great 

 variety of species, and that the species most commonly found 

 in the crop is probably that which is most numerous in the 

 area where the chicks are accustomed to feed. ' But it is also 

 evident that the number of insects eaten shows a considerable 

 falling off towards the third week of the chick's life. We should 

 not expect the chicks to show much discrimination in the catch- 

 ing of their prey, and as Diptera undoubtedly are the most 

 numerous in individuals of all the insects on the moors, it 

 naturally follows that they head the list in the table of crop 

 contents. 



An attempt was made to ascertain to what extent the 

 quantity of insect food decreases as the chick grows older, and 

 a table was published in the Final Report which brought out 

 the fact that after the second week of the bird's life there is a 



