231 Black Grouse. 



The great point is to make provision beforehand. As a 

 rule, when severe weather sets in the birds come down 

 from their ordinary haunts to those places where the likeli- 

 hood of rinding food is greater. This, then, provides a 

 guide as to where the necessary food should be forth- 

 coming. The expanses of grouse-moor are so great, the 

 distances so long, and the means of rapid communication 

 so difficult, that, unless some sort of provision is made 

 beforehand, when the dire necessity arises, numbers of 

 the game-birds will be starved or frozen to death before 

 food can be placed within their reach. 



Under these circumstances, then, and with a view to 

 meeting any emergency, the provision of food-shelters and 

 depots in huts before hard weather sets in is the surest 

 way of dealing with the matter. The subject is too large 

 to be dealt with in detail in the present work ; but 

 the principles as applied to Red Grouse are those which 

 must guide those who require to feed this class of game- 

 bird in winter. 



Black Game, by their habits, with their greater affection 

 for the woods and those boggy places, mires, and swamps 

 which even in very hard weather always remain partially 

 open, and afford a certain amount of food, are less difficult 

 to deal with, but, on the other hand, are more frequently 

 neglected. The general idea in connection with Black 

 Game is that if some few patches of late oats be grown in 

 the neighbourhood of the moors or woodlands that they 

 frequent, it is sufficient for the requirements of the birds. 

 Such, however, is far from being the case. These late 

 oats only serve for the first few weeks of early winter : it 

 is during the later portion that scarcity of food makes 

 itself most felt, and it is against privation during this 

 period that the chief steps should be taken. Black Game 

 at such season always seek their necessary food, as well as 



