STOCK 445 



their abode. The desire therefore to migrate, or the necessity 

 to seek new pastures, does not exist." 



The same authors, in their later work on the Fauna of the 

 Moray Basin, 1 refer to the danger that attends the indis- 

 criminating introduction of new stock to a moor from a district 

 where widely different conditions may chance to prevail. 



In Yorkshire, where the Grouse is not so migratory as in 

 Scotland, a sufficient change of blood is obtained by means 

 of driving, for the packs of young birds are constantly being 

 moved about from one beat to another, and get no chance 

 of staying at home on the patch of heather where they were 

 hatched. Thus it would be almost a miracle if they were to 

 seek out and pair with the survivors of their respective coveys, 

 as well as being contrary to the mating instinct of all living 

 creatures. 



Probably this constant mixing of the stock is one of the 

 most beneficial results that has followed the introduction of 

 Grouse driving, and it is principally to this that Mr Rimington 

 Wilson ascribes the large numbers and health of the birds on 

 his Broomhead Moor, for there the Grouse do not migrate 

 nor is fresh blood ever introduced by artificial means. 2 



Another method of introducing fresh blood is by changing Egg shift 

 the eggs in the nests. On some moors this has been successfully mg * 

 accomplished, and it is said that the result has been an improve- 

 ment in the stock ; but the operation is a delicate one and 

 entails a great deal of trouble and much disturbance of the 

 ground. Many failures have been recorded, and the practice 

 is not to be recommended. 



One great objection to the purchase of eggs qr live Grouse 

 for the purpose of improving the stock is that it encourages 

 poaching, and it is feared that moor-owners do not always 

 make sufficient inquiry as to whether the fresh blood purchased 

 by them has been honestly obtained. 3 



1 "A Vertebrate Fauna of the Moray Basin," Edinburgh : David Douglas, 1895, 

 vol. ii. p. 154. 



2 Vide p. 446, 3 Vide p. 414. 



