GROUSE IN CAPTIVITY 457 



and it did not seem to do them the least harm ; they remained 

 all the time in excellent health and plumage. 



Attention 'may be drawn to one very important point. 

 It would naturally be thought that, because the climate of 

 Surrey is warmer than that of the northern parts of the British 

 Isles, where Grouse live in a state of Nature, the Grouse on the 

 experimental area would nest earlier than the wild birds. 

 The exact opposite is the rule. Every year it has been noticed 

 that the Surrey birds lay and hatch later than Grouse in their 

 natural state. There are several reasons to account for this. 

 In the first place, under the conditions existing on the experi- 

 mental area the birds are artificially and not naturally mated, 

 and this alone may account for late nesting. It is possible, 

 and very probable, that more extended experiments on mating 

 hand-reared Grouse, in the same manner that Partridges are 

 mated in captivity, might lead to earlier nesting ; but it was 

 not possible to make this experiment on the Observation Area. 

 Again the necessity of the constant appearance of the keeper 

 at different times may have made the hen more shy of nesting, 

 and the small dimensions of the coops, keeping the two birds 

 always together, certainly is not conducive to privacy for the 

 hen. So that those who try to keep Grouse and rear them 

 on the lines adopted at the experimental area must not be 

 disappointed at getting late eggs. On the other hand, the 

 results obtained on the Surrey area show that it is within the 

 bounds of possibility to keep Grouse in captivity, and to rear 

 from them in such a manner as to enable owners of Grouse 

 moors to replenish by reared birds any loss their moors may 

 have sustained from excessive mortality in a very ba,d season. 



Since the Committee's stock of captive Grouse was dispersed, 

 the hand-rearing experiments begun by them have been con- 

 tinued by others with a large measure of success, and there is 

 little doubt that it might be successfully developed on commercial 

 lines. 



