42 RED GROUSE. 



Mr. Archibald Hepburn thus records one such occurrence: — "Familiar as I have been 

 for many years past with their habits, I should have been the last to imagine that in 

 any instance one of this species would voluntarily leave its native haunts, and take up 

 its residence among drifting sand-hills, overgrown with bent grass, (Agrostis,) such as 

 stretch along our coast from Whitberry Point to Scoughall Burn, about six miles as 

 the Crow flies from the nearest heath-clad slope of the Lammermoors. It was here that 

 a solitary female was seen in the winter of 1841; and in the following summer, Mr. 

 Martine, gamekeeper to the Earl of Haddington, found her attended by a brood of young- 

 ones, which arrived at maturity, and frequented their native haunts for several months, 

 till the whole were killed by poachers, or otherwise destroyed." Mr. Thompson says 

 that he has twice in twenty years known single Grouse killed on a low and narrow 

 bare strip of land called the Kinnegar, which stretches in a direction parallel to the 

 nearest line of coast, a miniature promontory, into the bay of Belfast, about four miles 

 from the town. 



The flight of the Grouse is very rapid, particularly when they fly down wind, as they 

 generally will do, contrary to the custom of most birds; the rapidity of their flight on 

 such occasions is perfectly astonishing, and they have been known to escape from a 

 Falcon, in full pursuit, by sheer swiftness of wing. 



The Red Grouse is strictly monogamous, differing in this respect from the Capercaillie 

 and Black Cock. The time of pairing varies with the mildness or severity of the 

 season ; should it prove mild and open, they will be found mated as early as January, and 

 Selby says occasionally "even previous to that time." The female usually commences laying 

 in March and April, and very rarely even in February, for Mr. Daniel says that "on 

 the 5th. of March, 1794, the gamekeeper of Mr. Lister, (now Lord Bibblesdale,) of 

 Gisborne 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 happened before so early in the year." 



The note or crow of the Moor Game is well described by the following: — 'Go, go, 

 go, go, go back, go back;' and, according to Macgillivray, "The Celts, naturally imagining 

 the Moor Cock to speak Gaelic, interpret it as signifying co, co, co, co, mo-chlaidh, 

 mo-chlaidh; that is, who, who (goes there?) my sword, my sword." Besides this crow, 

 it has an alarm-note which may be represented by the syllable 'kok' several times repeated. 

 This must have been heard by every one who has disturbed Grouse. 



The illegal destruction of Grouse has greatly increased of late years since the introduction 

 of sheep and black cattle on hills formerly tenanted only by Grouse and Red Deer; for 

 among the hinds, or people who attend upon these, too many are found able and willing 

 to poach these birds. The following description of the method by which this is generally 

 effected is from the pen of a "Veteran Sportsman:" — "When Grouse are taken by the 



