RED GROUSE 
at other times, which sound like wurrdw, wurrdw, wurrdw; erd~a, er~d; go 
bdck^ go bdcky go bdck ; or wdy, a-wdy, a-wdy. When uneasy or disturbed 
either when with young or when wounded, the note is uk, uk-kuk, kuk^ 
uk-kuk. The ordinary call of the hen bird may be rendered as yap^ yap^ yap 
or youe, youe, youe ; she also makes a low wheedling or whining noise, 
similar to that made by a fowl ; or it may be likened to the wheel of a 
barrow that wants oiling. 
The crowing or “becking” of the cock is not confined to the breeding - 
season, when with erected comb and swollen eye -wattles, he stands up 
and challenges his neighbours, but may be heard at all seasons, especially 
on frosty autumn- and winter-mornings. The grouse, when adult, is one 
of the hardiest of birds, and is but little affected by wet or snow as long 
as food is obtainable. 
The high ground is only deserted when the surface of the snow becomes 
covered by an icy crust, and the birds are no longer able to burrow and 
reach the heather beneath. The packs will then fiy for long distances in 
search of feeding-grounds, and will cross wide firths in their search for 
heather, as has been frequently recorded. In hard winters large packs 
from the Cawdor moors, in Nairnshire, have been known to cross the 
Moray Firth to the narrow low-lying moors on the Black Isle, and, if 
disturbed, to continue their northward course, crossing the Cromarty 
Firth. 
Except on some of the northern and western moors, grouse, especially 
the young birds, often begin to pack quite early in August, but as a rule 
the older birds, except in wet, stormy weather, do not do so till later in 
the year. In the north of Scotland, and in the Hebrides, the grouse are 
generally very tame, and sit very close, unless the weather is wet and 
stormy. In Skye I have found them as tame on the last day of the shooting 
season as they were on August 12. When grouse pack the males and 
females generally form separate parties, and it is not uncommon to find 
that most of the birds killed in one drive are cocks, while on another 
beat the reverse obtains. Generally speaking, the packs of hens are less 
partial to the higher ground than the cocks, and their movements are 
more erratic. The reason of this habit of packing is due to various causes, 
such as bad weather, lack of food, and the disturbance caused by shooting 
and driving. 
Weight. — The average weight of a cock grouse in late autumn is about 
twenty -four ounces ; but birds have been weighed of twenty -eight and 
55 
