CHAPTER XXI. 



RED GROUSE : Hand-Rearing. A New System. 



THE hand-rearing of Red Grouse is for various unex- 

 plained reasons generally considered to be very trouble- 

 some, unsuccessful, and unproductive. It is, however, by 

 no means so fraught with disadvantage as is supposed. 

 It is not, of course, the comparatively easy matter that 

 pheasant-rearing is, but it is at the same time practicable, 

 and if embarked in and carried out seriously, a very 

 feasible and useful undertaking. Two reasons may be 

 adduced on behalf of its more general adoption the time 

 it saves which a game-sick moor would otherwise take to 

 recover itself, and the scope it affords for providing fresh 

 blood on moors somewhat taxed by their head of game. 

 Eggs must be obtained under natural conditions, and, 

 moreover, in a careful and considerate manner ; otherwise 

 the mere abstraction of one may cause the nest to be 

 deserted by the mother-bird, while disturbance, whether 

 by man or by dog, after incubation has commenced, will 

 in nine cases out of ten result in abandonment. It is 

 necessary, therefore, that great precaution be exercised in 

 obtaining eggs, whether from a distance or from one's 

 neighbours, for, instead of being quite fresh, it is possible 

 that the eggs of several disturbed and partially-incubated 

 nests will be supplied, with the result that much time, 

 trouble, and many opportunities will be lost. As it will 



