THE MANNERS OF THE GROUSE 35 



watch your movements while resting snugly concealed 

 than to court your notice by any hasty action that 

 might betray the safety of their treasures. Their 

 habits become modified, however, when the young 

 have hatched out. For example, if you happen to 

 cross a bit of mossy ground on a July day you are 

 sure to flush an old hen grouse, which sings out lustily 

 as she rises from the heather. The dog makes a 

 point, and lo ! a newly feathered youngster is crouch- 

 ing at your feet, watching all your movements with 

 a keen glance of its bright dark eyes. You pause for 

 a moment to admire the little fellow's yellow freckled 

 garb ; it harmonises nicely with the rough cover in 

 which the creature is nestling. The instinct with 

 which it accepts an impassive position, as offering the 

 best hope of safety, is truly marvellous. The old hen 

 will not leave her young ; another step forward, and 

 you flush four or five more young birds, which start 

 up with their plaintive cheeping cry, to fly a few 

 paces across the moor before they drop back into 

 cover. The anxiety of the old birds is often touching 

 in its disinterestedness, especially if the young are 

 newly hatched, in which case the mother birds worm 

 this way and that way along the ground, trailing 

 themselves through the heather with half-open wings, 

 hoping by this transparent device to lead you away 



