168 



keeping particularly to its own quarters. On the darkest and most heathy ground were the 

 darkest birds and the largest, weighing generally 2 lb., and sometimes 2 lb. 2 oz. On the rocky 

 parts they were of a very much lighter brown, while on the stony and heathy ground combined 

 they were of an intermediate brown, mottled more or less with white." 



The habits of the Grouse have been so repeatedly described by the various writers on 

 British ornithology, and are so well known to every true sportsman, that but little is left to 

 record. It is a true frequenter of the open treeless moors, never perching, and living entirely on 

 the ground like its close relative the Willow-Grouse of Northern Europe. It is shy, and by no 

 means easy to observe and study, as it conceals itself closely amongst the dense heather-growth, 

 skulking concealed until one gets within a fair distance of it, and then flies away with a whirring 

 sound, flying low and heavily, uttering its loud call (kok, koJc) as it starts up. 



Mr. Alston writes to me that "the ' covies' unite into large 'packs' sooner or later in the 

 season, according to the district and the weather, and are then almost unapproachable ; in the 

 south of Scotland Grouse often pack very early in the shooting-season. Early on frosty mornings 

 the cocks are fond of perching on a ' know,' or hillock, and uttering ther clear ringing ' Er-eck- 

 kek-kek! wuk! louk! wuk!' At such times they may often be seen to rise perpedicularly in the 

 air to a height of several feet, and then drop again on the same place." 



I am indebted to my friend Mr. H. Seebohm, of Sheffield, who has closely studied the habits 

 of this species, for the following notes on its habits, as observed by him in Derbyshire : — " The 

 moors on the Derbyshire side of Sheffield are well stocked with Grouse. They are hilly tracts 

 of country, for the most part nothing but peat and rock, the former profusely covered with ling. 

 They abound in springs, which form mountain-streams in the narrow gorges, or produce bogs in 

 the wider valleys and plateaux, where the ling is often overpowered with a rank growth of 

 rushes, carices, and coarse grasses. The rocks are a kind of millstone grit, and sometimes appear 

 as huge isolated masses, but more often as a range of perpendicular cliffs, locally called edges. 

 The peaks and ridges above these cliffs sometimes rise to an elevation of 1700 feet or more above 

 the level of the sea. 



" Of course these moors are very strictly preserved ; and the only way to ornithologize upon 

 them with any comfort is to make friends with the gamekeeper. These men are generally very 

 zealous in looking after their employer's interests, and are indefatigable in pursuing trespassers 

 and hunting down all sorts of vermin. Weasels, stoats, magpies, and jays are trapped, and 

 ignominiously nailed on to the rail or fastened on to the wall which forms the gamekeeper's 

 museum of trophies. They undoubtedly deserve their fate, if the sucking of the eggs or the 

 devouring of the young of the sacred Grouse constitutes a capital crime. The Carrion-Crow and 

 the Rook are perhaps greater criminals ; but their extra cunning enables them to escape their 

 due share of punishment. When the young Grouse begin to run, the Sparrow-Hawk, the 

 Martin, and, occasionally, a Harrier are special objects of the gamekeeper's care. The greater 

 number of these Hawks are shot off every year, generally when they have young of their own, 

 and can be more easily approached within gunshot ; but every spring brings a fresh supply. The 

 gamekeeper's museum would, however, be but thinly stocked with Hawks did he not eke out 

 their number with a goodly row of Kestrels, Cuckoos, and Nightjars. It is melancholy to con- 

 template the wholesale slaughter of these innocent and charming birds. I used to think the 



