274 DELIBERATE INTRODUCTION OF NEW ANIMALS 



Ross-shire. The accompanying map (p. 271), which interprets 

 in a somewhat dogmatic way the dispersal of the Capercaillie 

 in Scotland, should be compared with one showing the 

 distribution of woodland in modern Scotland. Only thus 

 can the importance of the influence exercised by valleys 

 and forests on the movements of the birds be fully 

 appreciated. I would add in closing this account, that 

 the effectiveness of the establishment of the Capercaillie 

 in our woods is demonstrated by the numbers that have 

 been killed in a day's shoot on widely separated estates. 

 Thus, on Sir Arthur Grant's estate of Monymusk in Aber- 

 deenshire, 84 Capercaillie were killed in a day in 1910, and 

 73 in 1911 ; Mr J. G. Millais records that in a single day 

 107 were killed at Fotheringham in Forfarshire in 1894 ; and 

 on Blackhall in Kincardineshire 150 were got on one day 

 in 1908, the record day's shoot for Scotland. 



It may seem a simple and natural thing that a bird, 

 which like the Capercaillie had flourished in the country at a 

 recent date, should on being reinstated, again obtain firm 

 hold in its own land. But the problem is not so simple nor 

 the result so dependable. The disappearance of the Caper- 

 caillie was due mainly to the gradual destruction of woodland ; 

 the success of its reinstatement depended upon the presence 

 and suitability of the new woodlands which had sprung up 

 during the years of its absence. It is possible that the 

 new destruction of woodlands which the War has en- 

 tailed may again restrict the distribution of the Capercaillie, 

 or at any rate check its dispersal by removing the forest 

 stepping-stones which offered it gentle stages for pro- 

 gression from one area to another. 



THE GREAT BUSTARD 



At first glance, the case of the Great Bustard (Otis 

 tarda] (Fig. 62, p. 366) appears to be exactly comparable 

 to that of the Capercaillie. At one time, this huge game 

 bird was common on the plains of Scotland, and the pen of 

 Boece testifies to its breeding in the district of the Merse 

 in Berwickshire in the sixteenth century. To this record 

 I refer in greater detail in discussing the influence of culti- 

 vation on animal life (loc. cit.\ The Great Bustard died out 



