CAUSES OF MORTALITY IN THE RED GROUSE 165 



The bird was a hen found dying from Strongylosis in April, but the fracture must 

 have taken place at least six weeks before. From the complete union effected 

 the bird must have been healthy at the time, but the accident may have been 

 the starting-point of sickness, which resulted eventually in its death. Fig. 14 

 shows the undamaged femur of the same bird. 



No. 998 shows a bony outgrowth of the femur due to periostitis resulting 

 probably from some violence which was insufficient to break the bone (see Fig. 15). 



No. 1757 was an adult cock Grouse of 16 ounces only, found in Nairnshire 

 in September 1909, sick and unable to fly. It was a bad case of Stron- internal 

 gylosis ; but the original cause of its sickness was a number of lead wounds, 

 pellets which had some time previously passed through the pectoral muscles, 

 the sternum, and the liver. 



No. 1739 was an adult cock Grouse of 18 ounces, in good feather, but found 

 in Yorkshire on September 5th, 1908, sick and unable to fly. The bird was 

 suffering from Strongylosis ; but there were also healed scars of shot-pellet marks. 

 The lungs were somewhat stained post-mortem, but one of them was thick 

 and solid. It was in part a dark, rich, reddish black all through, and in part 

 normal pink. A line of adhesions joined up the second and third lung-lobes, 

 and there were cicatricial puckerings showing where a shot had passed through. 

 The solidification was due to old bleeding. A shot had also recently passed 

 through the neck, traversing the muscles, and tearing a small hole in the 

 trachea, which had remained unhealed. There was bloody fluid in the mouth 

 and trachea. The skin wound, however, had nearly mended, but bits of feather 

 were found in the tissues of the neck, and the scar outside was matted up with 

 broken feathers. The skin wound made by the shot which passed between the 

 ribs and entered the lung had completely healed, and its position only was 

 shown under the skin by a small blood clot which persisted. This bird must 

 have survived its most recent wounds for a week or two at the least. 



No. 1923 was a cock Grouse of 20 ounces, which was sent for examination 

 from Perthshire in very good condition. 



The following information was sent with the bird : 



" I enclose a Grouse which I picked up to-day. I put up a pack of Grouse. 

 This one rose a little after the others, and after flying about 200 yards 

 dashed to the ground, and when I got up to it it was quite dead and blood 

 flowing from its mouth." 



Examination outside before opening revealed the fact that the bird had been 



