THE MANNERS OF THE GROUSE 23 



many as seventeen eggs being found in a single grouse 

 nest, but I imagine that two hen birds had laid together. 

 Mr. Henry Seebohm is perhaps as high an authority 

 upon the eggs of British birds as any member of the 

 B.O.U. He says that he has not found much variation 

 in the sixe of eggs of the grouse. 'The ground-colour 

 of the eggs of the grouse is usually a pale olive, 

 spotted and blotched all over with dark red-brown. 

 The spots are frequently so confluent as almost to 

 conceal the ground-colour. In fresh-laid eggs the 

 brown is often very red, in some instances almost 

 approaching crimson. It appears to darken as it 

 thoroughly dries, and sometimes almost approaches 

 black. When fresh laid the colour is not very fast, 

 and before the eggs are hatched the beauty of the 

 original colouring is generally very much lessened by 

 large spots coming off altogether, no doubt from the 

 friction of the feathers when the bird is sitting. If 

 the weather is wet when the bird begins to sit this is 

 much more the case. When the colour lias once 

 become thoroughly dry il will bear washing in water 

 without injury. The colour of the eggs is admirably 

 adapted for the purpose of concealment from the 

 prying eyes of rooks, crows, and birds of prey, being 

 very much like the mixture of moss, lichens, and peat 

 where they are laid. Most of the eggs laid come to 



