THE KED GROUSE, 
H7 
lie is also nearly the only euh’vener of these wild rq- 
litudes, by his loud morning and evening call. Du- 
ring summer it may he varied by the whistle of the cur- 
lew or the walling of the golden plover, or perhaps in- 
terrupted by tbe sailing flight of some harrier or other 
birds of prey; but in winter# for leagues arourul, 
“ Dwells but the gor-cock and tbe deer,'* 
Unless where rnurh disturbed, die grouse is riot 
a wild bird, oiul, unaware of danger, it will allow 
a person to approach or walk past, uttering only 
its call, as if to make its companions aware that some- 
thing is near. In districts where they are much fol- 
lowed, they, however, become one of the most wild 
and wary of our game, and almost impossible to lie 
approached except hy stratagem. For nearer con- 
cealment they are amply provided by ihe si mi lari ty 
of the lints of their plumage with t he dark brown 
moss and heath, and except for tbe assistance of the 
pointer, could nut be discovered. Unlike the large 
true grouse, tbe birds of the present group all pair 
and continue with their broods until a return of die 
warm season. Tin* young in some seasons are dread- 
fully ravaged by tbe tapeworm, almost destroying 
them entirely in the districts where it occurs. It is 
their most severe natural enemy. The red grouse 
pairs very early, if mild, in January, and the female 
commences laying at the end of March. The eggs 
are deposited in a shallow hollow at the foot of some 
tuft of heath, which affords a partial covering and 
shelter, and only a few straws or grasses serve to se- 
parate them from the ground. Both parents attend, 
