Birds. 307 



Britons. This bird had become extinct in Scotland : the demolition 

 of the ancient and immense forests of fir laid the country open and 

 naked, while the extirpation of the brambles and bushes, which pro- 

 duced a profusion of berries, deprived them of another source of 

 sustenance. In 1745 they were frequently seen in Strath Spey ; and 

 the last seen in a state of perfect nature was in 1760, in Strath Glass. 

 Attempts have lately been made to introduce this noble bird again 

 into Scotland, and, as I hear, with good prospect of success ; in par- 

 ticular in those immense forests of the East of Breadalbane which 

 stretch along the Tay, they seem to be doing well, and to be falling 

 into a regular system of breeding. To return, however, to the second 

 species, the red game. The red grouse or common moor fowl is a hardy 

 and a harmless bird : his life and manners give offence to no creature 

 in his neighbourhood, but he is himself the unresisting prey of the 

 rapacious birds which inhabit the same regions with himself : he is 

 endowed with no weapons of defence : his flight, which is indeed 

 rapid, is the only mode of escape with which he is provided : the 

 goshawk is his deadliest enemy, his aim being swift and unerring : the 

 eagle and the raven light on him in his roosting place, and murder 

 him before he has power to take wing ; they strike their talons into 

 the fleshy parts of his body, in order that they may hold their victim 

 fast ; then one blow of their beak lays open the brain-pan, and all 

 struggles for life instantly cease. In the first short struggle for life 

 and liberty the poor fowl cries out most pitifully, but when the fatal 

 blow is given all is still : I have often listened to the mournful screams 

 until, suddenly silenced, I have known that life was gone. When a 

 bird of prey attacks a grouse on the wing, he gets above him and 

 strikes downwards at a considerable angle with the horizon, but, as 

 the pursuer gains ground, the angle continues to increase, and the 

 rapidity of motion becomes very great ; then the grouse, finding his 

 strength failing, suddenly dives towards the earth, and for a moment 

 eludes his pursuer, whose speed has now carried him beyond the 

 mark : the hawk almost instantly takes up, and returns to reconnoitre : 

 if there be a dyke, heath or furze bush, there is yet a chance of life ; 

 the grouse creeps under its shelter, and squats motionless on the 

 ground, but if the surface is naked and bare, there is no chance of 

 escape ; the hawks' talons are in his back, then come the screams — 

 all the resistance he can make, — then the blow, and all is over. 



The crow, as we have seen, commits desperate ravages among the 

 grouse during the breeding season. Although the mother steals to 

 and from her nest with the greatest secrecy, — although she seldom 



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