FIR-WOODS AND HEATHER 299 



hard winters and late springs grouse do appear to suffer from 

 the poverty of their diet. The recent investigations into 

 grouse disease strongly suggest that it is not caused by a 



BLACK GAME 



specific bacillus, such as Professor Koch claimed to have dis- 

 covered, but is primarily due to want of nutriment. The 

 parasites which abound in the grouse's interior then sap the 

 strength of the bird in its underfed state, and it wastes to 

 death. 



