225 Black Grouse. 



The nest is decided upon in April ; it is of very primitive 

 construction, consisting merely of a circular hollow in the 

 ground, indifferently lined with such morsels of herbage 

 as may be brought in by the bird. It is generally placed 

 in a tuft of heather on the open moor, at a spot well 

 sheltered and dry, yet near to water ; sometimes in a low, 

 young plantation, at the base of some thick shrub or bush. 

 I have also known it in a low hedgerow. The eggs, from 

 three to thirteen, but averaging seven or eight, are laid 

 invariably towards the end of April, difference of locality 

 and season apparently not influencing the matter. It is 

 said that the hen Black Grouse or Grey-Hen neither " lays 

 nor incubates till three years old " ; but this is incorrect, 

 and though perhaps both sexes of the Black Grouse are 

 longer in reaching maturity than their Red congeners, I 

 have every reason to believe that at two years, and even 

 one year old, the females lay and incubate. 



As soon as incubation commences, the cocks desert the 

 hens, and again congregate in small packs in quiet and 

 secluded parts until the process of moulting, which now 

 begins, is completed. The whole work of rearing and 

 protecting the young is left to the female bird, and a very 

 assiduous parent she proves herself, taking every care and 

 pains over her progeny, and being always ready to risk her 

 life in endeavours to distract attention from them. The 

 young remain with the mother until autumn, when their 

 first feathers are moulted off, and the birds acquire the full 

 plumage which distinguishes the males from the females, 

 between which there is till this time no difference in out- 

 ward appearance. The broods are then split up, the old 

 and young of each sex associating together apart from the 

 rest. The males " pack " to a much more considerable 

 extent than the females, often as many as fifty or more of 

 the former being occasionally seen together, while the 



Q 



