30 GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL. 



whilst favourite nesting grounds are near the patches of burnt 

 heather — burnt for the purpose of furnishing a supply of young 

 shoots for the Grouse — where doubtless the abundance of food 

 influences the choice. It is merely a hollow scratched out in the 

 peaty soil and strewn with a few bits of withered ling, heath, dry 

 grass, or dead leaves. The Red Grouse is rather an early 

 breeder, birds on sheltered low ground going to nest early in 

 April, but those inhabiting higher and more exposed districts are 

 several weeks later. The state of the season also considerably 

 affects the time of laying ; and sometimes a late fall of snow will 

 overtake the brooding or laying birds and cause great mischief 

 The eggs, too, vary considerably in number in various years. If 

 wet and cold, the clutches vary from five to nine eggs ; if warm 

 and dry, twelve or fifteen are frequently found. They are creamy 

 white in ground colour, very thickly spotted and blotched with 

 rich reddish brown, in some cases almost crimson-brown. The 

 colouring matter is easily rubbed from newly-laid eggs, and 

 during wet weather the feet of the sitting bird spoil much of 

 their beauty. They are, on an average, i"8 inch in length by 

 I '25 inch in breadth. The Red Grouse is a close sitter, and will 

 remain brooding until almost trodden upon. The female performs 

 the entire duties of incubation, which lasts twenty-four days ; but 

 when the young are hatched both parents assist in tending them. 

 The young broods are generally led by their parents to the 

 wettest parts of the moors, doubtless for the sake of some 

 particular kind of food. Only one brood is reared in the season, 

 but if the first clutch of eggs be destroyed it is usually replaced 

 by another of smaller number. 



Diagnostic Characters. — Lagopus, with the primaries uni- 

 form dark brown. Length, 14 to 16 inches. 



