130 APPENDIX G 



item is probably the most essential, and the second is probably only a result of 

 the first, but as it is more easily noticed it forms the best guide to the prospects 

 of the following year. A good year for corn crops is usually a good year for 

 heather. 



(2) The health of the birds is of far greater importance than the weather in the 



breeding season. 



(3) It is believed that the best weather conditions in the breeding season are an 



early spring and an absence of all climatic extremes. Mere cold probably 

 does little harm, and rain or snow in moderation may be disregarded. The 

 important matter is that the stock should pair early and proceed with their 

 nesting without interruption. The value of early hatchings is referred to 

 elsewhere. 1 



(4) From the reports it would appear that fine, dry, warm weather from May to 



July is associated with the best growth of leaf and bloom, and early bloom 

 is followed by well-ripened seed, unless the autumn is unusually wet. Occasionally 

 late bloom may result in a well-ripened crop of seed if the autumn is fine and 

 warm. It would appear from the Reports for 1908 that a hard frost in April 

 is not injurious to growth, but probably frost in May would retard it seriously- 



(5) Once the chicks are hatched they will survive all ordinary weather conditions ; 



but excessive wet soon after hatching means great danger from drowning. A very 

 hot, dry summer has been associated with a disappearance of the young stock, 

 but the exact reason for this requires further investigation. 2 The rapid growth 

 and development of chicks probably depends entirely on a good food supply, 

 i.e., a good spring growth of heather. 



(6) Strongylosis is probably caused by insufficient or inferior food during the months 



of February to April rather than by any particular weather conditions at the 

 date of the attack. Insufficient food causes the winter feeding areas to be 

 restricted, and so the ground becomes contaminated with the Strongyle worm. 

 Weather conditions may indirectly affect the case, but to what extent cannot 

 be stated with certainty. Heavy snow would, doubtless, be beneficial by covering 

 certain feeding areas and keeping them uucontaminated until the snow has 

 melted ; on the other hand, it would tend to further restrict the feeding areas 

 so long as it lay on the ground. It has been thought that heavy rain might 

 be beneficial as a means of purifying the ground, but experiments have 

 proved that the larva? of this worm seem to flourish best in damp surroundings. 3 

 Frost and dry cold may do something to suspend the vitality of the larva? for 

 a time, but drought is the only climatic condition which appears to do it any 

 permanent harm. 



(7) Cocci diosis as a disease in Grouse chicks has only recently come under investiga- 



tion, and the study of the subject is attended with much difficulty. From 

 experiments in the laboratory it has been found that the Coccidium develops 

 most rapidly under conditions of warmth and drought, and it is certain that 



1 Vide vol. i. chap. xri. pp. 470 et seq. 2 Vide antea, p. 129, vol. i. chap. ii. p. 16. chap. xi. p. 264. 



8 Vide vol. i. chap. x. pp. 232-233. 



