Birds. 187 



no means of rare occurrence, that the pheasant is invariably the in- 

 truder, driving off the partridge, sitting on both sets of eggs, and 

 attending to the broods when hatched ; the partridge, on the other 

 hand, only takes possession of the pheasant's nest and eggs when 

 forsaken by their owner ; amongst these she deposits her own, broods 

 over all, and is by far the best nurse of the two. It is a pity that I 

 did not take note of the position of the eggs in the nest which I 

 examined ; it would be interesting to know whether or not the foster 

 parent placed her adopted eggs on the outside of the nest. 



Tlie Black Grouse. On the 12th of April, 1843, when riding over 

 the green hills which divide the head waters of the Teviot from those 

 of the tributaries of the Esk, I rested for two hours at the inn of 

 Mosspaul ; there, on a sloping hill, I noticed a pack of black grouse, 

 consisting of three males and eleven females, feeding within 150 yards 

 of the inn door and 50 yards from the highway on which I stood : 

 one of the former lowered his head, depressed the tips of his wings, 

 erected and expanded his tail, now and then bending it on one side like 

 a turkey-cock, and, strutting about in pompous style before the fe- 

 males, uttered a loud, rumbling, guttural, and at first generally que- 

 rulous and then rolling note, which, in that quiet narrow glen, was 

 easily heard at the distance of a quarter of a mile : it would be diffi- 

 cult to syllable such a note ; the snarling of a mastiff, omitting the 

 nasal part of the performance, gives a pretty correct idea of the 

 rolling notes. The proud bird was a haughty wooer, for aye as each 

 female fled from his importunities, after pursuing her a short way, he 

 paid his addresses to another : it is a curious fact that, although the 

 amorous chase often brought him into close contact with the other 

 two males, who remained silent and unconcerned spectators of his 

 fooleries, not the slightest animosity was manifested hy either party. 

 A stage-coach dispersed the pack ; two males and eight females flew 

 across the glen ; on alighting, one of the former recommenced his 

 gestures and notes, and occasionally uttered a loud, harsh, hissing 

 squeal or scream. By reason of his importunities, as well as to ob- 

 tain food, the pack soon became scattered, so he was obliged at times 

 to fly from group to group of coy females, scarcely ever intermitting 

 his curious cry when on the ground. A man at the inn informed me 

 that these notes and gestures usually commenced about the middle of 

 March, and ceased in the course of eight or ten weeks. I observed 

 their habits most attentively during the space of an hour and a half, 

 noting down everything of interest, and although this account may 



