RED GROUSE. 353 



mermuir, and the mountains of Peebles, Dumfries, and 

 Selkirk, it is still plentiful." 



The Red Grouse pair very early in spring, and the 

 female soon goes to nest : this is formed of the stems of 

 ling and grass, with occasionally a very few feathers, and 

 these materials are slightly arranged in a depression on the 

 ground, under shelter of a tuft of heather. Daniel, in his 

 Rural Sports, says, that "on the 5th of March 1794, the 

 gamekeeper of Mr. Lister (now Lord Ribblesdale) of Gis- 

 burne Park, discovered on the manor of Twitten, near 

 Pendle Hill, a brood of Red Grouse, seemingly about ten 

 days old, and which could fly about as many yards at a 

 time ; this was an occurrence never known to have hap- 

 pened before so early in the year." T. H. Sanderson, Esq. 

 also sent me word, in reference to early breeding, that a 

 farmer in burning ling off Shap Fell, burnt over a nest con- 

 taining fifteen eggs on the twenty-fifth of March 1835. 

 The eggs are from eight to fourteen or fifteen in number, 

 of a reddish white ground colour, nearly covered with 

 blotches and spots of umber brown : the length of the egg 

 one inch nine lines, and one inch three lines in breadth. 

 The female sits very close ; and Mr. Salmon mentions that 

 one allowed him to take her off her eggs. The young 

 brood leave the nest soon after they are freed from the 

 shell, and are attended to by both the parent birds, under 

 whose example they learn to feed on the various vegetable 

 substances by which they are surrounded. The extreme 

 ends of the common ling and fine-leaved heather, with the 

 leaves and berries of the black and red wortle, and crow- 

 berry, and occasionally oats, when grown at the moor side, 

 are the portions and kinds of food most frequently found in 

 their crops. 



The quantity of Red Grouse supplied to the London 



VOL. II. A A 



