LOCAL CONDITIONS AND HEALTH OF GROUSE 317 



has been formed which reaches this exceptional standard, and 

 that moor is affected by abnormal circumstances. 1 



The fact that no district in Scotland is immune from " Grouse 



1908 



1909 



Disease " is proved by the map reproduced at the end of the 

 series. This map shows approximately the districts from which 

 authentic Reports of " Grouse Disease " have been received 



1 The moor in question is on Tentsmuir in the county of Fife, a stretch of sandy soil 

 of about 1,000 acres lying on the edge of the North Sea, and only a few feet above high 

 water mark. It has a good but somewhat irregular growth of heather. Until 1872 

 there were no Grouse on the moor, but in that year a few wild birds were turned down, 

 and speedily became established. The moor now yields an annual bag of from forty to 

 sixty brace. This moor is entirely free from any appearance of Strongylosis, and the 

 Grouse obtained from it are the only Grouse examined by the Committee which, on 

 dissection, show no trace of the Strongyle worm. The absence of this parasite may be 

 due to the fact that the moor is isolated from other Grouse ground ; but this can hardly 

 be the correct explanation, seeing that the original wild birds by which the moor was 

 stocked must presumably have been infected with the normal quota of this nematode. 

 A more probable explanation is that the salt from the sea spray has so impregnated the 

 ground as to make it impossible for the worm to exist, for it has been proved by 

 experiment that even a mild solution of salt is fatal to the Strongyle in the larval 

 stage. On the other hand, hand-reared Grouse are often entirely free of the Strongyle 

 worm, and it is for this reason that they are the only birds which can be usefully 

 employed for experimental purposes. 



