92 
RED GROUSE. 
much followed, they, however, become one of the 
most wild and wary of our game, and are almost 
impossible to be approached except by stratagem. 
For nearer concealment they are amply provided, 
by the similarity of the tints of their plumage 
with the dark brown moss and heath, and, except 
for the assistance of the pointer, could not be dis- 
covered. Unlike the large true grouse, the birds 
of the present group all pair and continue with 
their broods until a return of the warm season. 
The young in some seasons are dreadfully ravaged 
by the tapeworm almost entirely destroying them 
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 com- 
mences 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 
separate them from the ground. Both parents at- 
tend, and boldly defend the nest or young from 
the ordinary aggressors ; one of the most dangerous 
for the eggs is the common carrion crow ( C. corone ); 
and this is attacked in return, and often beaten off 
successfully. In confinement they are easily tamed, 
and become familiar. They even lay under very 
dissimilar circumstances to the exposure of their 
native moors, though the young are not often so 
reared to maturity. We have known a brood 
hatched under a kitchen dresser. They have also 
bred in several aviaries; but the young have suffered 
