46 RED GROUSE. 



in Ireland. This burning is used chiefly where sheep are pastured, and is frequently 

 performed in spring, when the birds are sitting; but even if carried on in the autumn, 

 the Grouse would lose both food and shelter, and their numbers must therefore be greatly 

 diminished by this practice. 



We come now to consider the food of the Eed Grouse; this, from the nature of their 

 haunts, is not of a very varied character, though it is probable that a careful examination 

 of their crops might materially extend the following list : — -The whortleberry, ( Vaccinium 

 myrtillus ;) the cranberry, (V. oxycoccos;) the cowberry, (V. vitis idcea;) the hare-tuil 

 cotton-grass, (Eriophorum vaginatum;) the smooth heath bedstraw, {Galium saxatile;) 

 various grasses; sedges or Carices; willows; the heath, {Erica cinerea;) the ling, 

 (Cattuna vulgaris;) the crowberry, (Empetrum nigrum;) the red bearberry, (Arbutus 

 uva ursi;) oats in their season ; etc. During the autumn the fruits of all these 

 plants are eaten, while during the winter months they are obliged to be contented with 

 their tender tops and small branches. As before mentioned, during this season they 

 derive much of their food, in some districts, from the stubbles and oat fields. Mr. 

 Thompson mentions that the mountains about Aberarder, which are covered with the 

 reindeer lichen, (Claclonia rangiferina,) with only a sprinkling of heath, were well 

 supplied with Grouse. Though he does not say so, it is probable they there derive much 

 of their subsistence from this nutritious plant. 



The sporting terms applied to the Eed Grouse are the same as those given to the 

 Black Game. 



Grouse shooting commences, as is well known, on the 12th. of August in England 

 and Scotland. 



It is to be regretted that so early a day should have been fixed for this shooting, 

 and were the moors always closed till September 1st., the sport would be far superior, 

 and the birds more fit for the table. It is Avell known too that, early in the season, 

 particularly if the weather be very hot, as it often is, the parent birds are the first to 

 rise, and the old hen is very frequently killed, the young birds lying like stones; a 

 known breeding bird is thus destroyed, and the chances for next season, 'pro tanto,' 

 diminished. Of course a vast number of poults or young birds are also shot, very often 

 when they can scarcely top the heather; there is no sport in this, and we can hardly 

 imagine a true sportsman bagging such game; being shot too generally at very short 

 distances, they are often almost blown to rags. All these evils would be remedied were the 

 moors kept closed till the 1st. of September : in late seasons this delay is doubly necessary. 



The following remarks, by a gentleman who, some years ago, used to write in a sporting 

 magazine, under the designation of "Detonator," are so good that we commend them to 

 the special attention of all those who frequent the moors, particularly for the first time : — 

 "Grouse shooting diiFers materially from Eartridge, or, as it is commonly termed by 



