‘native districts. On this head, Sir John Crewe ee le oecin Im ue a : a ae with all the information in his power ; and the following ny D : ss “cc Pp - to your Hee alin rep ny Om . : on the larch than any other kind of fir tree, from the awful snow 5 e ,pe ay a Ss y requested Turner, bis head keeper, eu 1 1 i as favoure is the note with which Sir Jolin has favou cae os ed them to perch more frequently hawthorn. On one occasion during : 5 ° 7 x old thorn that grows 1D the fence ‘ t have been less than five brace : they continued letter respecting the Red Grouse perching on trees, I have notic sar November I was ca . ch on the they also frequently perc : some corn-fields at Ferneyford ; and in an seve there could no » many, but T believe th : : Ae Gan ate Howanany is of them. The autumn is the time when they are more frequently yare S 0 e Lsaw a number of Grouse; I cannot exactly say in the tree until I got within a few 39 seen to take to the trees. : Much bas been written respecting the dise ae -ecanitulate a tithe of what has ace to recapitulate a tl a ae i : f interest will find it in the ‘ Sporting Review, The Field,’ ‘ Land ase to which of late years the Grouse have been subject; but as - v 4 : | been recorded on this head in the present work : it would be out of p those to whom this kind of information 1s 0 ee oe sriodicals of the like kind. ; Tater,’ and other periodicals . tee aoe nk ann) We and the Grouse-disease, all arise from causes at present unknown. Grous The fearful visitation of cholera, the murrain among PEA - the potato crop cattle, the ravages among the potato : . : pe | S ; Al lo oulcdoer the rder among the Grouse ma ed; but, in the absence of such knowledge, the disor d & y The wholesale destruction of our predatory birds, particularly aoe of the feeblest of the pack, instead of attacking the 5 ‘The mystery may yet be solv perhaps be attributable to overcrowding. the Eagle and the Peregrine, which take advant its 1 e3 vell-being of the community will necessaril boldest and most vigorous, must have had its influence ; and the well-being o y arily suffer from such a wholesome check being taken away. On this bead, Bue St. om writes, a Wha is the cause of this mortality, it is a matter of some consequence to the proprietors oe those wm where the Grouse-shootings let for as high or a higher rent than the sheep pasturge ; for ! can be y be expected that Englishmen will continue paying at the rate they do for the right of shooting over tracts of ground where the grouse are becoming almost estinct, as is the case in several Dee Instead of sparing the Diets where thev are attacked by this epidemic, I should be much more inclined to shoot down every Grouse in the infected part of the hills; and I would continue to do this as long as any appearance of the disease remained; I would then give them a year or two of rest, according to the numbers and appearance of the birds. This seems to me the most likely way to check the destruction caused by what the keepers call the ‘ Grouse-disease.’ In some parts of the Highlands there were scarcely any young birds seen in August ; and the old Grouse were picked up in dozens dead on the heather.” — Tour in Sutherland, vol. 1. p. 275. «The great changes,” says Mr. Robert Gray, in his ‘ Birds of the West of Scotland,’ page 232, “ that have taken place within the last thirty years in the management of moorland tracts, and the excessive rents now derived from such properties, have induced both landowners and lessees to clear the ground of all kinds of animals that would naturally prey upon those birds which are not strong enough to protect themselves ; hence sickly broods of Grouse perpetuate other broods, that year by year degenerate until disease ensues, and in some instances almost depopulates an entire district. There can be no doubt that this unwarrantable destruction of Hawks and Buzzards affects adversely the condition of the birds with which our Scottish mountains are stocked—the number of wounded birds alone, which survive the unprece- dented annnal slaughter through which the Red Grouse is now obliged to pass, being to show that such merciful agents are wanted to prevent the spread of enfeebled life. an argument sufficient In almost every case where undue protection is given to certain animals by the rigorous destruc tion of others, man’s interference is followed sooner or later by evils of a graver nature than those which the protective measures were intended the restoration of the Red Grouse to its original somewhat anomalous position in which, as a species, to cure; and, until some more rational plan is tried for vigour, NO One can say what may be the final issue of the the latter bird is now unfortunately placed.” Considerable difference exists in the coloration of the Grouse in different parts of the British Islands : more uniform in bue than those of Scotland ; and the Welsh d,—neither having the rich black breasts of those which fre Little difference occurs in one and in another of these localities. those of Ireland are very much lighter and birds are somewhat similarly marke quent the the weight of birds of the same age and sex in POM alle aoa ence I have weighed many from each of them, and find the average > about twenty-five ounces: m: 7 velo ie a ft : two ounces; but a two-pound Gronee must be Gee, vey live Gas ait a thousand that attains such a weight, raed Cheviots and the Grampians. a very large one, and it is not above one in a S yird W Q L y 3 me he has seen three (two at Glen Fernat, and one at Brae More Phe eggs are from ten to fourteen in number, of a reddish @ and spots of rich umber-brown. : , and thirty one ounces ; but he tells ) that turned the scale of two pounds. round-colour, nearly covered with blotches The Plate represents the adult , and pa a br ; part of a brood of young, as they appear about the 20th of August.