The Red Grouse Introduction and Maintenance. 109 



unlikelihood of being rendered practically useless by reason 

 of its surroundings. 



The soil of a grouse moor is the first matter for consider- 

 ation, for unless that be suitable, it is useless seeking to 

 maintain grouse upon it. Either it may be incapable of 

 producing the variety or quantity of natural growth neces- 

 sary, or it may drown out the birds in wet weather by reason 

 of its holding instead of running off the rain. It is, doubtless, 

 true that moorlands all bear much the same character in 

 respect of soil, but it is also true that they vary more 

 considerably than is generally imagined. It will often be 

 noticed that, notwithstanding a very sheltered position, 

 some portions, often of large extent, exhibit a sterility quite 

 extraordinary, beside another occupying a most weather- 

 beaten aspect. That this is due to the soil to some extent 

 is certain, but more probably to the distance of the surface 

 mould from the underlying rock. We have in our recollec- 

 tion one such spot in particular. One side of a hill exposed 

 to all the roughest storms of wind, rain, and cold, is thickly 

 clad with heather, ling, and berry plants ; the other, occupying 

 the side of a sheltered valley, scarcely bears a blade of 

 grass or a tuft of heath. It is, therefore, necessary, as 

 the first step, to discover whether the moor is capable 

 of producing, or, in fact, does produce a sufficiency of the 

 indispensable cover and food for the birds, embracing in 

 large proportion the several plants enumerated in the fore- 

 going chapter. 



In a wet season, partridges, chiefly the young birds, are 

 drowned out to enormous extent on the clayey lands ; and 

 the same causes which bring this about effect, in similar 



