108 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



less than the hens scale which are shot earlier in the season, a very sub- 

 stantial difference. These last stay till towards the pairing season, and 

 then are seen no more till late autumn. Apart from the weights, which 

 speak for themselves, the three types are distinguishable at a glance by 

 their plumage. — Henry H. Slater. 



Migration of Grouse in Winter. — In our last number (p. 69) we 

 printed the reports of several correspondents, showing the severe straits to 

 which the Red Grouse have been reduced upon the north country moors 

 by reason of the severe cold and heavy snow, which have prevented them 

 from getting their usual food, and driven them down to the valleys in search 

 of sustenance. A correspondent of ' The Field,' writing from North York- 

 shire on Feb. 12th, observes : — " In the North Riding the storm continues 

 with unabated severity, and both winged and ground game are suffering. 

 On the moor the snow lies very deep, many of the smaller ' ghylls ' being 

 completely overblown. The Grouse have forsaken the higher moors, where 

 it is impossible for them to be artificially fed, and have congregated on the 

 lower ground, where, by means of snow harrows, and holes dug through the 

 snow, they are enabled to reach the heather. On most moors, where 

 practicable, they have been and are daily fed with unthrashed corn. 

 Numbers of Grouse, however, are scattered all over the lower valleys, and 

 may be seen literally in hundreds perched in the hedgerows, feeding on the 

 hawthorn berries and haws of the brier, and other wild seeds. It is a 

 pitiable sight to see the straits to which these — our gamest of game-birds — 

 are reduced ; they are so tamed by want of food as to be heedless of the 

 approach of man, and could easily be knocked down with a stick. Scores 

 have succumbed, but in many cases these have been ■ pricked ' birds, and in 

 some instances birds suffering from tapeworm. All the weakly birds 

 must be killed by the intense cold and lack of food, and numbers will 

 doubtless fall victims to unscrupulous persons. The partial thaw, suc- 

 ceeded by a severe frost, rendered it impossible for the birds to get through 

 the frozen surface to reach their natural food, and this frost was followed 

 by another thick covering of snow. Undoubtedly, good will ensue to a 

 limited extent by the change of blood, and on the overstocked moors disease 

 may be averted. Not within the memory of man have so many Grouse 

 been seen feeding in hedgerows or amongst the sheep and in farmyards as 

 at present. Partridges also have suffered, and whole coveys have been 

 found frozen stiff where jugging. In most cases Partridges are able to eke 

 out a subsistence by feeding in the hedge bottoms, roads, and farm or stack- 

 yards, but the bitter cold of the present storm has caused great destruction. 

 Rooks and Carrion Crows have been seen feeding on emaciated, starved 

 birds and rabbits. Pheasants are, as a rule, well looked after and hand-fed, 

 but in distant and unpreserved coverts the wild birds are being exterminated. 

 Foxes are plentiful, and their pad-marks can be seen in all directions in the 



