104: BIRD LIFE IN ENGLAND. 



birds of various ages, but entirely without success. The 

 hatching the eggs under pheasants appears to offer a very 

 reasonable hope of permanent success. The young would be 

 accustomed to their new locality and the peculiar food 

 furnished by it. I do not believe in the impossibility of 

 introducing black game into Ireland. For a species whose 

 habitat extends from Scotland in the north to the New 

 Forest on the south coast of England, there mast be found 

 many suitable situations in Ireland ; and the varieties of food 

 on which it feeds are equally abundant in both countries. 



Landed proprietors should try to introduce this noble 

 game bird into different localities in the Emerald Isle, select- 

 ing, as offering the greatest hope of success, situations similar 

 to those affected by the species in Great Britain not barren 

 heath and moorland, but the vicinity of woods, coppices, and 

 semi-cultivated lands, where alder, birch, and willow twigs 

 are found in the spring; crowberries, whortleberries, and 

 similar fruits in the autumn ; heath and vaccinia all the year 

 round. 



The ptarmigan, that bird that conspires with the seasons 

 to hide him, is, I greatly hope, able to take care of himself 

 amongst his rocky fastnesses. None of these birds do any 

 recognizable harm to the produce of human industry. As 

 for the red grouse, I see no reason why he should not nourish 

 and multiply in face of the grouse disease and human and 

 feathered foes. 



Those who are fortunate enough to be able to spend 

 long days in August or September upon the heather must, 

 however, be moderate and philosophical in their sport, or we 

 shall be within measurable distance of exterminating one of 

 the finest game birds in the world and ruining a valuable 

 recreation. Wise protection is also essential, and the stern 

 suppression of unseasonable poaching. 



A matter that ought, for this reason, to be of some curiosity 

 to the sportsman, is the abundance of capercailzie, black- 

 game, and grouse hanging in rows along the outside of our 



