232 BIRDS OF THE WEST OF SCOTLAND. 



it can, by lifting its head above the heather, see the Irish coast, 

 clear and well defined; but there it stops. 



Dr Dewar informs me that while on Ailsa Craig in the summer 

 of 1867 one of the cragsmen found an egg of the black grouse in 

 the nest of a lesser black-backed gull near the summit of the 

 island: it bore evidence of having been carried thither by the 

 vagrant owner of the nest the colouring matter having been 

 rubbed off the one end, which had apparently been in the gull's 

 mouth. 



A nest of this species, containing sixteen eggs, was found in the 

 summer of 1868 on the moors at Daldowie, in Ayrshire; on being 

 visited some time afterwards it was found that two hen birds had 

 divided the number, and were then sitting on eight eggs a-piece 

 within a foot of each other. 



The grey hen, as in the case of the hen pheasant, frequently 

 assumes the plumage of the male. Two examples occurred within 

 my observation in November, 1868: one from Argyleshire, belonging 

 to Mr J. Gilmour, had the head and neck exactly like those of a grey 

 hen the rest of the plumage resembling that of a young male, and 

 the lateral tail feathers showing a tendency to curve outwards; 

 the other from Ayrshire, a remarkably glossy and beautiful bird, 

 was wholly dark in colour, the tips of most of the feathers being 

 adorned with clear reddish brown pencilling^, giving the specimen 

 a most attractive appearance. Both were exhibited at a meeting 

 of the Natural History Society of Glasgow. 



THE RED GROUSE. 



LAGOPUS SCOT1CUS. 

 Coileach ruagh (mas.), Cearc-fhraoich (fcem.) 



THE jealous care with which this beautiful bird is protected 

 appears of late years to have materially affected the well-being of 

 the species. The present work is hardly suited for discussing the 

 influences now at work and threatening to lessen, if not wholly 

 destroy, one of the most popular of sporting pursuits ; yet I cannot 

 withhold expressing a fear that the Red Grouse of Scotland, if not 

 soon left to its own resources, may ultimately become a victim to 

 over protection. The great changes that have taken place within 

 the last thirty years in the management of moorland tracts, and 



