234 BIRDS OF THE WEST OF SCOTLAND. 



final issue of the somewhat anomalous position in which, as a 

 species, the bird is now unfortunately placed. 



Throughout Western Scotland the Red Grouse is widely dis- 

 tributed, being found on all our moors ranging from the base of 

 the highest mountain peaks, down to the patches of heath that 

 skirt the salt water lochs of the Outer Hebrides. It is found in 

 almost the whole of the islands of both the inner and the outer 

 group, being common in Islay, Mull, Skye, Kum, and Jura, where 

 the species is said to be increasing. It is also tolerably abundant 

 in Lewis, Harris, North and South Uist, and Barra. All the birds 

 I have examined from these wild wastes appeared to be quite free 

 of disease, but as a rule they may be said to be smaller and lighter 

 in colour than those from moors on the mainland, especially the 

 mountain ranges of the north-east of Scotland, which invariably 

 yield, in good seasons, the largest and most beautifully marked 

 grouse. In many districts the native grouse partake of the 

 coloration of the ground in their markings; thus the finest and 

 darkest birds are those frequenting rich heathy tracts; while on 

 broken ground of a rocky character, such as may be seen in the 

 south of Wigtownshire, the grouse are either more or less mottled, 

 or are altogether lighter in colour, and less in size and weight.* 

 Accidental varieties likewise occur. I have seen specimens of 

 grouse that were wholly of a pure buff colour; the last pair of the 

 kind I examined were shot near Forres, in October, 1867, and 

 had for some time previously been marked objects on the moor 

 where they were killed. 



I have found the nest of this species at various elevations in 

 localities where the heather grows in luxuriance, from the shoulder 

 of the highest hills to the low slopes, almost touching the margin 

 of some of our sea lochs. I remember finding two nests in the 

 island of Bute in 1867 a year of disease and great mortality 

 about ten yards from high-water mark; and some of my corres- 

 pondents sent me similar records from other parts of the country. 

 The food of the grouse though consisting, as is well known, of 

 young heather shoots and various alpine plants, is often varied by 

 farm produce, especially oats a grain which is frequently sown on 

 reclaimed patches of land near its haunts. In Wigtownshire, I 



* Mr Elwes informs me that in the district of Gairloch, west Ross-shire, 

 grouse vary very much in the breast markings, and that they never pack 

 in that part of Scotland, nor become wild except in bad weather. 



