308 Birds, 



leaves her charge even for a short airing, yet her retreat is often dis- 

 covered, and her nest plundered of the eggs. But eggs and youn^ 

 are equally acceptable to the voracious robber : the day on which th( 

 young bird first breaks the shell is doubly hazardous : when it first 

 inhales the vital air it gives a small but sharp chirp ; the mother's 

 feelings are all aroused, and she responds in a hoarse tone : the vil 

 lain crow is lurking in the neighbourhood ; he knows there is a nest 

 at hand, and that the brood is about to hatch ; he has learned thii 

 from certain movements of the parent grouse, which he has oftei 

 watched, but, notwithstanding all his vigilance, the nest has hitherto 

 escaped him : these sounds lead him to the very spot, and the fon( 

 mother must yield the objects of all her motherly feelings, or mus 

 herself become the victim of the ruthless destroyer. In an agony o 

 fear she leaves the spot where all her cares have just terminated ; sh( 

 throws herself carelessly among the bushes, and flounces away in th< 

 heather, uttering all the while cries of terror and distress, but th( 

 crow heeds her not : he heard the young ones cry ; his ear directs 

 him to the nest, and there he gobbles the little ones one after another 

 though some are not yet ready to escape from the shell. 



The places selected by the grouse for her nest are generally on th( 

 borders between heath and lea ground : this choice proceeds entirelj 

 from instinct : though the gi'ouse feeds on heath, lives among heath, 

 and is protected by heath, yet, by the common instinct of nature, sh( 

 is aware of the danger of a heathery space to hatch in ; she knows 

 that she could not rear her little ones on a space of rank heath ; th( 

 weaklings' legs would fasten among its small branches, or, in thei 

 endeavours to hide, they would thrust themselves below its strongei 

 stems, and in either case, before they could escape, life would be ex 

 tinct : a place is therefore chosen where the young have free am 

 ample space the moment they leave the shell. Six or seven eggs ii 

 the usual number for a season ; they are of a whitish brown, daubec 

 over with darker spots : the hen sits very close, allowing the shep 

 herd almost to trample on her before she springs. No creature usei 

 more cunning to allure man or dog from the nest than the grouse. 



The red grouse usually fly in pairs, yet a single bird is often seen 

 when snow is on the ground they congregate in flocks : in great snow 

 drifts they allow themselves to be overblown, but to no great depth] 

 and then the poacher may easily beguile them by mimicking their cry 



Stobo Hope, July, 1843. 



