THE RED GROUSE. 169 



fie is also nearly the only enlivener of these wild so- 

 litudes, by his loud morning and evening call. Du- 

 ring summer it may be varied by the whistle of the cur- 

 lew or the wailing of the golden plover, or perhaps in- 

 terrupted by the sailing flight of some harrier or other 

 birds of prey ; but in winter, for leagues around, 



" Dwells but the gor-cock and the deer." 

 Unless where much disturbed, the grouse is not 

 a wild bird, and, unaware of danger, it will allow 

 a person to approach or walk past, uttering only 

 its call, as if to make its companions aware that some- 

 thing is near. In districts where they are much fol- 

 lowed, they, however, become one of the most wild 

 and wary of our game, and almost impossible to be 

 approached except by stratagem. For nearer con- 

 cealment they are amply provided by the similarity 

 of the tints of their plumage with the dark brown 

 moss and heath, and except for the assistance of the 

 pointer, could not be discovered. Unlike the large 

 true grouse, the birds of the present group all pair 

 and continue with their broods until a return of the 

 warm season. The young in some seasons are dread- 

 fully ravaged by the tapeworm, almost destroying 

 them entirely in the districts where it occurs. It is 

 their most severe natural enemy. The red grouse 

 pairs very early, if mild, in January, and the female 

 commences laying at the end of March. The eggs 

 are deposited in a shallow hollow at the foot of some 

 tuft of heath, which affords a partial covering and 

 shelter, and only a few straws or grasses serve to se- 

 parate them from the ground. Both parents attend. 



