MANAGEMENT OF GROUSE MOORS 
B irds of the moorland and mist, associated as they are in the 
minds of most persons with the lofty and rugged mountains 
which are their chief habitat, grouse seem to be the essence of 
the hills, and fit in delightfully with their romantic surround- 
ings. Yet, wild as they are, grouse will become tame under 
appropriate conditions, and, being of a bold and pugnacious 
disposition, soon lose all fear of man. 
Nesting . — It is observable that grouse never make their nests in heather 
so dense that the chicks cannot get through it and be led out into the 
open, but if strips are burned as long as possible in such expanses, 
about twenty to thirty feet wide, grouse will take advantage of these, 
and make their nests a yard or two within the old heather, where 
perhaps there have been none for years. The favourite sites, however, 
are where the surrounding heather is rather thin, for there the 
chicks can move freely after the various insects which form their staple 
food when newly hatched. But they also eat heather from the very first, 
picking up the shoots which she drops as they follow the hen, until 
they are able to forage for themselves, and peck off the tender shoots of 
such heather as they can reach. When nesting amongst heather which has 
been recently burned, the old birds select a site where the burnt stalks 
have weathered and become ashen grey, and since the eggs, especially 
after a spell of wet, have a tendency to become also grey in colour, it is 
instinct no doubt which guides the parents in choosing a place where the 
eggs will assimilate in appearance with their surroundings, and so be 
less conspicuous than they otherwise would. Grouse will frequently occupy 
an old nest again if the egg-shells are cleared out, and a few fresh dried 
bents are placed at the bottom. 
Hand-rearing . — When young grouse are hatched under a hen they are not 
difficult to rear, provided the hens are quiet and careful mothers. The coops 
should be placed on a flag, or board, for fear vermin may get in and destroy 
the brood, and put down in short heather, which the chicks will soon begin 
to pick for themselves. At first a wooden run must be placed in front 
of the coop, to prevent the chicks from rambling too far before they can 
fly, which they will do when ten days to a fortnight old ; and as the runs 
have often to be put down on uneven ground, some small pieces of zinc 
should be provided to All up any interstices, and if the bottom of the zinc 
is fairly ragged, and is used with a see -saw motion, it will penetrate 
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