THE FOOD OF THE RED GROUSE 105 



apart altogether from the maintenance of the water supply. 

 The evidence on the subject is somewhat conflicting. 



As already stated, Grouse do not appear to require water 

 from springs or burns in the earlier stages of their life ; 1 this 

 fact is established from observations on both wild and hand- 

 reared birds. On this subject, a well-known moor-owner in 

 Banff shire writes : " Grouse never seem to want water except 

 in a very dry season ; a shower is sufficient to last them for a 

 long time. The less water they have in hand-rearing, I find, 

 the better they do." And, again, " I have never noticed that 

 the young Grouse, when half-grown or older, require more 

 water than what they pick up in the grass in wet weather, 

 and what is sprinkled on the grass or heather at meal times 

 in dry weather. Old Grouse seem to know how much is good 

 for them ; while young Grouse, if allowed access to water, are 

 almost certain to drink too much, and scour. This, of course, 

 refers to tame birds." Another correspondent of the Committee, 

 a gamekeeper near Pitlochry in Perthshire, writes : " Regard- 

 ing water, I have known several broods fetched out 600 yards 

 from the nearest water of any kind, in a dry season, and they 

 continued to thrive without water for at least three weeks 

 after hatching, when rain would no doubt relieve the old bird, 

 which I am of opinion had nothing to drink but dew all that 

 time ; at least I never found young chicks without the parent 

 bird along with them." 



On the other hand, a gentleman in Yorkshire, who success- 

 fully reared twenty-four Grouse out of twenty-eight eggs set, 

 says : " They were watered three times a day." And a game- 

 keeper, whose experience of some of the largest moors in Perth- 

 shire has lasted for a lifetime, says : " There must be water, 

 and, where a moor is blest with good springs, there will the 

 Grouse be also. One cannot have too many springs on a moor 

 in dry weather." 



When full-grown there is little doubt that Grouse do drink ; 

 hand-reared birds are seen to drink frequently on a hot day 



1 Vide chap. i. p. 20. 



