LOCAL CONDITIONS AND HEALTH OF GROUSE 295 



lose the nest. Cases have been reported of eggs being 

 buried in snow for many days, 1 or covered to a depth 

 of several inches with water without suffering any 

 harm. On one occasion (May 14th, 1911), a sitting 

 hen was driven off her nest by flooding ; the eggs were 

 covered with water and their colour washed off, never- 

 theless the hen returned, and on May 25th the whole 

 clutch hatched out. Frost, unless very severe, is 

 probably less destructive than rain or even snow, for 

 while the hen is sitting the eggs are safe, and before 

 she has begun to sit it is doubtful if they are damaged 

 unless the frost is hard enough to split them. 2 



(b) Young chicks may be destroyed by drowning, but are 



seldom killed by frost, snow, or extreme cold. 



(c) Very hot, dry weather after hatching has sometimes been 



associated with loss of chicks ; a possible solution is 

 suggested on p. 8. 



4. Relation of Weather Conditions to Health of Stock. If the 

 stock is healthy bad weather in the breeding season does little 

 harm ; if the stock is unhealthy bad weather at nesting and 

 hatching time will result in a failure of young birds. 



The effects of a good breeding season upon a healthy and 

 unhealthy stock respectively cannot be stated with certainty, 

 for during the three years under review there was no really 

 good breeding season. The nearest approach to favourable 

 conditions occurred in the east of Scotland in 1908, and then 

 the results seemed to indicate that even where the weather 

 conditions are favourable an unhealthy stock will not be prolific. 3 





 In the light of the foregoing remarks we may now with 



some confidence attempt to answer the list of queries with 

 which this chapter opened. 



(1) The weather during the winter appears to be immaterial, 

 provided the food supply is good. The winter food 



Fide p. 10. 2 Vide pp. 11, 12. 



