20 THE GROUSE IN HEALTH AND IN DISEASE 



having stirred perhaps for hours the dogs may come within a yard or two 

 before winding them." 1 



In the early part of the day and at dusk Grouse are found looking for 

 grit, on the rough moor roads and tracks, or along the burn - sides, where 

 every fresh spate washes down a new supply. 



The attraction presented to the Grouse by a suitable supply of grit is most 



marked. Good grit is to the Grouse what raisins are to Pheasants, and salt to 



Deer. They often fly long distances to obtain it, and in districts where 



it is scarce they will congregate in numbers along the railways and 



roads that traverse the moor, in order to avail themselves of the supply thus 



artificially introduced. 



Towards midday Grouse are generally found on the " tops " and higher 

 grounds, and especially amongst broken moss-hags ; or, if the weather is very hot, 

 they may be flushed from the burn-sides and shaded places ; in very rough 

 weather they do not scorn the shelter afforded by a ledge of rock or bank of 

 peat, and may then be best approached down wind. The best shooting is often 

 got late in the afternoon on the low ground, to which the Grouse have descended 

 to feed before "jugging," with crops crammed with heather shoots. 



When moving from one part of a moor to another Grouse usually fly low, 

 and as their principal time for shifting their ground is in the early morning 

 or at dusk they run a serious risk of death by collision with the wire sheep 

 fences so common on many moors. 



This danger can be to a great extent averted by having all wire fences 

 carefully " bushed" with bits of brushwood. Small branches of larch are best for 

 this purpose, as they can be easily turned into the wires, and do not readily blow 

 out a fair-sized branch every 5 yards is sufficient. Spruce branches are also 

 used. Telegraph wires are not so common on a moor as fences, and not nearly 

 so dangerous, while the cost of protecting the birds from them by game-guards 

 makes it hardly worth while to consider them. 



The Grouse, like the Domestic Fowl, the Pheasant, and the Partridge, is a 

 " dusting " bird, and wherever a peaty or sandy bank has a sunny exposure a 

 " scrape," with a feather or two half embedded in the soil, is to be- seen. The 

 fine particles of impalpable dust, by getting into the breathing apertures of the 

 troublesome insects which are found on the birds, afford the latter temporary 



1 Colquhoun, " The Moor and the Loch," p. 184. 6th Edition. Edinburgh : William Blackwood & 

 Sons, 1884. 



