On Moorlands and Roiighs. 43 



of British game birds, and the least dependent upon 

 the protection of man. Owing, however, to the ever- 

 increasing value of the bird for sporting purposes 

 (a sovereign per brace shot being considered by no 

 means an exorbitant price), the preservation and 

 propagation of Red Grouse now receive more care 

 and consideration than ever. Grouse breeding is 

 becoming as important in one direction as Pheasant 

 and Partridge breeding is in another. The birds are 

 not kept up to their present numbers, notwithstanding 

 the inroads of the sportsman and the periodical epi- 

 demics of disease, without the exercise of great care 

 and skill, not only in the preservation of a necessary 

 amount of breeding stock, but by the improvement 

 of the moors by surface- drain ing, burning, and so on. 

 The Red Grouse is much more of a ground bird' 

 than the Capercailzie or the Black Grouse, although 

 it may be seen perched in trees from time to time. 

 This is all the more interesting because its near ally, 

 the Willow Grouse the Lagopus albus of ornitholo- 

 gists is greatly attached to trees, roosting in them, 

 and is chiefly met with amongst birch or willow 

 thickets. Another interesting fact concerning the 

 Red Grouse is its strictly monogamous habits, and, 

 as is almost universally the rule in such cases, the 

 male resembles the female in colour much more 

 closely than in Grouse where polygamous instincts 

 prevail. Marvellously protective in coloration is 



