THE LIFE HISTOEY OF THE GROUSE 17 



any quantity ; it must be remembered, however, that the infant Grouse is a small 

 object, and any one who has searched in vain in the heather for a full-grown 

 bird which has fallen to his gun can realise the difficulty of finding a tiny 

 chick upon a moor where the whole stock does not average more than a bird 

 to several acres. Coccidiosis chiefly attacks the birds when they are very 

 small ; the chicks die in the heather, the little carcasses are rarely found, 

 and in a short time they disappear altogether for, even if they have 

 not been devoured by vermin or removed by heat, wet, flies, maggots, or 

 burying beetles, the small bones do not make lasting skeletons, and would 

 not be discovered even if the moors were searched. 



In spite of difficulties the field observer and other members of the Com- 

 mittee's scientific staff have by diligent search been able to find a certain 

 number of small dead chicks on the moors ; in almost every case the cause of 

 death has been found to be Coccidiosis. Many other cases of Coccidiosis have 

 been received for examination from various parts of Scotland and Yorkshire, 

 and others have been obtained from the Committee's observation area in Surrey. 



Fortunately it is only in exceptional cases that we have to consider the 

 question of a wholesale disappearance of the young stock from pathogenic causes. 

 Under normal circumstances the Providence that watches over all Careof 

 young things brings to maturity a large percentage of the birds j n the 

 that are hatched ; but Providence may be assisted, and the methods o"f young 

 by which it may be assisted are fully discussed in another part of this Grouse - 

 Report. 1 Suffice to say that in the earlier stages of the life of the Grouse the 

 state of the moor is of great importance to the welfare of the birds. If the 

 heather has been well burnt in a systematic manner the chicks have access 

 to shelter in time of danger, yet are not lost in a wilderness of rank growth 

 should a shepherd's dog scatter the brood in all directions ; vermin is kept 

 down, and, most important of all, there is easy access to a plentiful supply 

 of suitable food in the strips or patches of heather which are available in 

 various stages of growth. 



The place above all others where we may be sure of finding a brood 

 of young chicks, if there are any on the ground, is amongst rushes and long grass 

 in the more swampy parts of the moor ; this is specially noticeable in very 

 dry seasons. Whether the chicks seek these damp spots for the sake of 

 shelter from the heat or in quest of insect life is not known. 



1 Vide chaps, xvii., xviii., xx. 

 VOL. I. B 



