CHAPTER XIV.-THE RED GROUSE. 



HAND-REARING. 



hand-rearing of red grouse is for various unexplained 

 JL reasons generally tabooed as very troublesome, unsuc- 

 cessful, and unproductive. It is, however, by no means so 

 fraught with disadvantage as is supposed. It is not, of 

 course, the comparatively easy matter that pheasant-rearing 

 is, but it is at the same time practicable, and if embarked in 

 and carried out seriously, a very feasible and useful under- 

 taking for the gamekeeper, whether amateur or professional. 

 Two reasons may be adduced on behalf of its more general 

 adoption the time it saves which a game-sick moor would 

 otherwise take to recover itself, and the scope it affords for 

 providing fresh blood on moors somewhat taxed by their head 

 of game. There is nothing practical to be done in the way 

 of semi-domesticating birds, and obtaining their eggs for 

 sitting. Eggs must be obtained under natural conditions, 

 and, moreover, in a careful and considerate manner; other- 

 wise the mere abstraction of one may cause the nest to be 

 deserted by the mother bird, while disturbance, whether by 

 man or dog, after incubation has commenced, will in nine 



