316 THE RED GROUSE. 



forsook it, and betook themselves to the outskirts, 

 though those were so near the cultivated lands that the 

 birds had previously avoided them, unless when forced 

 from them by the severity of the winter. In passing 

 along the side of the young wood, in the evenings of 

 April and May, we have every where heard the cry of 

 the heathcock on the outside, but never once within the 

 wood ; even though there were wide openings between 

 the trees, and none of them above eight or ten feet in 

 height. 



Many circumstances lead to this habit in the red 

 grouse : the heath is, at all seasons, nearly of their own 

 colour; as when there are not purple flowers upon it, 

 the old leaves, which are falling in the summer, are 

 brown. On an open moor the heath is short and firm, 

 and the birds can run amongst it ; while, when sheltered, 

 it gets long and lank, and makes a very bad pathway 

 even for a hare. The open heath is also dry and fra- 

 grant ; and the buds, which are the principal food of 

 the grouse in the breeding season, are sweet ; while in 

 the shaded places it is damp and rank. The superiority 

 of the path, (for grouse do not get on the wing till their 

 running be unavailing,) and also of the food, are, there- 

 fore, inducements to prefer the open heath. 



But the instinct of preservation leads them to the 

 same places. Trees, the shade of which would be incon- 

 venient to grouse, afford shelter to animals that would 

 prey upon them ; not to predatory birds only, but to 

 weasels, martens, and foxes, which would prowl about 

 and destroy the eggs during the day, and the old birds 

 in the night. Thus the necessity of food, and the 

 desire of life, equally confine these birds to situations 



