"GROUSE DISEASE" 163 



has invariably proved appearances deceptive, except in the 

 cases where accident has been the cause of death. 



In the case of a hen whose feathers have been recently donned 

 for nesting, a most misleading impression of good condition is 

 given even in a wasted bird. In the cocks it is different, for 

 the feathers have not been changed for the nesting season, 

 and the plumage is often worn and faded in comparison with 

 the new nesting plumage of the hen. 1 



It is often hard to believe that a hen Grouse which has 

 died in full nesting plumage, however thin and poor, is not 

 actually heavier than the dingy cock bird of the same month. 

 And if no rain has fallen on the hen since her death the com- 

 parison between her and the cocks which are found in all stages 

 of disease, decayed, weathered and bleached, is even more 

 misleading. 



The point has now been too often tested to allow of doubt. 

 No bird dies of Strongylosis without loss of weight. That 

 some birds waste more and some less before succumbing to 

 the disease is certainly true, the difference in this respect 

 depends mainly upon the season, but sex and individual 

 strength also make a difference. 2 



On this point the Committee can speak with entire con- 

 fidence. During the whole period of the Inquiry, from 1904 

 to 1910, there has not been a single outbreak of " Grouse 

 Disease " in which the birds died without loss of weight. 



While, therefore, it is possible that a virulent and sudden 

 form of disease does, in fact, sometimes occur, it is also possible 

 that the belief in it is entirely without justification, and is the 

 result of inadequate method and inaccurate observation. 



1 Vide chap. ii. p. 42. 2 Vide chap'i. p. 33. 



