170 



6 



narrower than usual, they are much more pointed at the small end than is usually the case. 

 The ground-colour of the egg of the Grouse is usually a pale olive, spotted and blotched all over 

 with dark red-brown. The spots are frequently so confluent as almost entirely to conceal the 

 ground-colour. In fresh-laid eggs the brown is often very red, in some instances almost 

 approaching crimson. It appears to darken as it thoroughly dries, and sometimes almost 

 approaches black. When fresh-laid the colour is not very fast ; and before the eggs are hatched 

 the beauty of the original colouring is generally very much lessened by large spots coming off 

 altogether, no doubt from the friction of the feathers of the bird when sitting. If the weather 

 is wet when the bird begins to sit, this is much more the case. When the colour has once 

 become thoroughly dry, it will bear washing in water without injury. The colour of the eggs is 

 admirably adapted for the purpose of concealment from the prying eyes of Rooks, Crows, and birds 

 of prey, being very much like the mixture of moss, lichens, and peat where they are laid. Most 

 of the eggs laid come to maturity. I once asked a gamekeeper to watch half a dozen nests 

 which were near his house. He told me that out of forty-nine eggs he counted forty-seven 

 chicken Grouse. 



"As soon as the young are hatched, especially in dry seasons, the hen takes her brood down 

 to the more swampy parts of the moor. Unlike the Black Grouse, whose remote ancestors 

 appear to have embraced Mohammedan views on this point, the Red Grouse is a strictly mono- 

 gamous bird, and remains paired all the year round. While the hen is sitting her mate is 

 generally not far off, and gives the alarm by flying off at the approach of supposed danger, 

 uttering his loud kok, kok, kok. It would appear that the cock does not take his turn at the 

 duties of incubation ; but when the young are hatched both parents wait upon them. 



" The food of the Grouse is chiefly the flowers and young shoots of the ling ; the capsules 

 of carices are also often found in their crop. Were it not for the sportsman, the Grouse would 

 live a very quiet life on his native heath, as much so as the poultry on the farms in the valley. 

 He does not migrate in spring or autumn. His utmost excursion is confined to an occasional 

 raid into the nearest farms when food is scarce. In very severe and long-continued frost and 

 snow I have known isolated instances of Grouse being caught in the streets of Sheffield. 



" The Grouse is not generally a conspicuous bird on the moors. You may often drive for 

 miles without seeing more than one or two. In an evening you may sometimes see three or 

 four sitting on a stone wall ; but for the most part they live upon the ground. I never but once 

 saw a Grouse in a tree ; and then it had flown across a broad valley and alighted in a wood. It 

 seemed so little at home, that it remained with its wings partially expanded and assisting to 

 support itself by the adjacent twigs until I came up, when it flew away. 



"Grouse-shooting begins on the 12th of August. In average seasons there will then be 

 but few ' cheepers' (birds whose parents have been disturbed in their first nests and haye bred 

 again). At the same time most of the young birds will not be so strong on the wing as to 

 prevent the second-rate shots from making a bag. 



"The moors in the neighbourhood of Sheffield sell at from 40£. to 50£. per acre. This 

 value is almost entirely derived from the Grouse. On some moors a few sheep are seen for the 

 summer ; but many are entirely devoted to Grouse. For the first few days Grouse are shot over 

 dogs, pointers, or setters. A good shot, on a good moor, will bag his twenty-five to thirty-five 



