8 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE GROUSE 



the bags obtained on that magnificent island. Messrs. 

 Harvie Brown and Buckley describe the grouse of the 

 Lews as deteriorating in size, and as tending to die 

 out, for which they specially blame in-breeding, an 

 evil easily remedied, if desired. I believe, myself, that 

 the fault lies in the want of zeal of the proprietors, 

 who allow enormous numbers of hooded crows to 

 exist and to plunder their moors. In Skye we per- 

 sistently trap and poison these arch robbers, but we 

 cannot get entirely rid of them, because a fresh 

 supply is always forthcoming from the Long Island. 

 Farther north, there are plenty of grouse in the 

 Orkneys, not upon all the islands of the group, but 

 upon the majority viz. on the mainland, Hoy, Burray, 

 Flotta, Fara, Risa Little, Cava, Eday and Rousay. 

 Stragglers occasionally visit the other islands in the 

 autumn and winter months. But there are no grouse 

 in the Shetlands. There never were any there until 

 they were introduced. Their first introduction must 

 date back two hundred years, since Brand tells us, in 

 1701, that grouse had previously been introduced into 

 Shetland, but could not live there. They were 

 numerous even then in Orkney, and the Fair Island 

 peregrines used to visit Orkney to procure the moor-fowl 

 as food for their young. Of late years, several efforts 

 have been made to naturalise grouse in Shetland ; but 



