io NATURAL HISTORY OF THE GROUSE 



tion, the wet and stormy springs, and the sinful 

 custom of burning heather all over instead of in suit- 

 able strips. Another difficulty in Shetland, as in 

 very many places, is the great abundance of the 

 hooded crow and other vermin. Mr. Raeburn thinks 

 that the peninsula of Roness on the mainland would 

 suit grouse particularly well. What is required, if 

 grouse are to become naturalised in Shetland, is the 

 united effort of the various proprietors, who should 

 join together in extirpating vermin, and turn down 

 some hundreds of grouse for two or three successive 

 seasons. I have no great faith, myself, in the virtue 

 of experiments carried out on a small scale ; because 

 introduced grouse would have, in the first instance, to 

 fight stoutly for existence. 



On the other hand, a well-considered scheme, 

 accompanied by remedial measures for the protection 

 of heather, would probably result in material benefit 

 to the Northern Isles. Upon the Scottish mainland 

 the grouse enjoys a general distribution, ranging freely 

 over elevated moorlands as well as those situated in 

 low-lying districts. A wonderful region of Scotland is 

 that which lie's between the high mountains and the 

 western seas, bathed in a flood of thin mist or de- 

 corated with a variety of soft and soothing tints, 

 marvellous reds and browns and greys mingling to- 



