180 THE GROUSE IN HEALTH AND IN DISEASE 



Such birds are not at the point of death, but are, in fact, 

 convalescent. They are not the birds that will be killed off 

 necessarily in the coming winter, but may perhaps be still 

 weaklings in the following spring. They are the birds that in the 

 previous spring were badly hit by Strongylosis, but managed to 

 survive April and May, and were then safe, with a supply of good 

 and varied food assured to them for at least eight months 

 to come. 1 



As we know much about these wasted autumn hens it is now 

 safe to say that they may be placed in two classes : 



(1) Those that were too sick in the spring to breed at all, 



and so remained barren. 



(2) Those that were not too sick to breed, but bred small 



clutches and reared from two to four or five young 

 Grouse. 



The first class has the best chance of recovery, for with 

 them there is nothing to occupy their attention but food and 

 rest and their own convalescence. Probably most of these 

 are passably healthy birds in autumn, with no sign of having 

 suffered very badly except in their backwardness as regards 

 change of plumage. These birds usually show a great mixture 

 of plumages, having feathers sometimes of the preceding 

 winter plumage, mingled with an irregularly grown nuptial 

 spring plumage and perhaps some new feathers of the already 

 overdue autumn-winter plumage. 



The second class is different. They also have a mixture of 

 the same three plumages, but with more complete nuptial 

 feathers, and fewer of the preceding winter plumage, They 

 are the worst of all the sick birds seen in the autumn months. 

 They may have been less sick in the spring than the barren 

 birds but they have been completely worn out by the effort to 

 nest, and by the cares of their family. They have nevertheless 

 struggled through, thanks to the summer and autumn food 

 supply and summer weather, and by the autumn they are 

 convalescent. By January they will in all probability be once 



1 Vide chap. iii. pp. 84 d m-ij. 



