52 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE GROUSE 



almost exclusively upon wheatears, meadow pipits, 

 and other unimportant little birds. Once only in all 

 my experience did I find the foot of a grouse chick 

 in the nest of a merlin. I wish that the poor hen- 

 harrier could be held equally blameless. 



To summarise my own experience of birds of 

 prey, I venture to say that, so far as they act merely 

 as ' nature's police,' their presence on the grouse moor 

 has at least its redeeming features. Our grouse are 

 all the stronger and hardier for having to struggle 

 hard to maintain their existence. The thoughtless 

 persecution of birds of prey, or of any other feathered 

 fowl, is culpable in the extreme. But the interests of 

 the sportsman and of the naturalist are closely allied, 

 and the one ought to help the other in the wise 

 management of the grouse moor. 



Proceeding now to speak of the less noble enemies 

 which thin the ranks of our coveys directly or indirectly, 

 I own to a considerable distrust of the raven. Cer- 

 tainly he feeds chiefly on carrion, but I am afraid he 

 is fond of grouse eggs, and sucks their contents when- 

 ever a chance presents itself. So my endeavour is to 

 keep the numbers of the raven down, without, how- 

 ever, threatening their local extinction. The worst, 

 because most cunning, foes of the grouse are the 

 carrion and hooded crows. They are the worst of 



