Page:GrouseinHealthVol1.djvu/45

Rh any quantity; it must be remembered, however, that the infant Grouse is a small object, and any one who has searched in vain in the heather for a full-grown bird which has fallen to his gun can realise the difficulty of finding a tiny chick upon a moor where the whole stock does not average more than a bird to several acres. Coccidiosis chiefly attacks the birds when they are very small; the chicks die in the heather, the little carcasses are rarely found, and in a short time they disappear altogether for, even if they have not been devoured by vermin or removed by heat, wet, flies, maggots, or burying beetles, the small bones do not make lasting skeletons, and would not be discovered even if the moors were searched.

In spite of difficulties the field observer and other members of the Committee's scientific staff have by diligent search been able to find a certain number of small dead chicks on the moors; in almost every case the cause of death has been found to be Coccidiosis. Many other cases of Coccidiosis have been received for examination from various parts of Scotland and Yorkshire, and others have been obtained from the Committee's observation area in Surrey.

Fortunately it is only in exceptional cases that we have to consider the question of a wholesale disappearance of the young stock from pathogenic causes. Under normal circumstances the Providence that watches over all young things brings to maturity a large percentage of the birds that are hatched; but Providence may be assisted, and the methods by which it may be assisted are fully discussed in another part of this Report. Suffice to say that in the earlier stages of the life of the Grouse the state of the moor is of great importance to the welfare of the birds. If the heather has been well burnt in a systematic manner the chicks have access to shelter in time of danger, yet are not lost in a wilderness of rank growth should a shepherd's dog scatter the brood in all directions; vermin is kept down, and, most important of all, there is easy access to a plentiful supply of suitable food in the strips or patches of heather which are available in various stages of growth.

The place above all others where we may be sure of finding a brood of young chicks, if there are any on the ground, is amongst rushes and long grass in the more swampy parts of the moor; this is specially noticeable in very dry seasons. Whether the chicks seek these damp spots for the sake of shelter from the heat or in quest of insect life is not known.

VOL. I. B