Page:The Zoologist, 1st series, vol 1 (1843).djvu/335

Rh Britons. This bird had become extinct in Scotland: the demolition of the ancient and immense forests of fir laid the country open and naked, while the extirpation of the brambles and bushes, which produced a profusion of berries, deprived them of another source of sustenance. In 1745 they were frequently seen in Strath Spey; and the last seen in a state of perfect nature was in 1760, in Strath Glass. Attempts have lately been made to introduce this noble bird again into Scotland, and, as I hear, with good prospect of success; in particular in those immense forests of the East of Breadalbane which stretch along the Tay, they seem to be doing well, and to be falling into a regular system of breeding. To return, however, to the second species, the red game. The red grouse or common moor fowl is a hardy and a harmless bird: his life and manners give offence to no creature in his neighbourhood, but he is himself the unresisting prey of the rapacious birds which inhabit the same regions with himself: he is endowed with no weapons of defence: his flight, which is indeed rapid, is the only mode of escape with which he is provided: the goshawk is his deadliest enemy, his aim being swift and unerring: the eagle and the raven light on him in his roosting place, and murder him before he has power to take wing; they strike their talons into the fleshy parts of his body, in order that they may hold their victim fast; then one blow of their beak lays open the brain-pan, and all struggles for life instantly cease. In the first short struggle for life and liberty the poor fowl cries out most pitifully, but when the fatal blow is given all is still: I have often listened to the mournful screams until, suddenly silenced, I have known that life was gone. When a bird of prey attacks a grouse on the wing, he gets above him and strikes downwards at a considerable angle with the horizon, but, as the pursuer gains ground, the angle continues to increase, and the rapidity of motion becomes very great; then the grouse, finding his strength failing, suddenly dives towards the earth, and for a moment eludes his pursuer, whose speed has now carried him beyond the mark: the hawk almost instantly takes up, and returns to reconnoitre: if there be a dyke, heath or furze bush, there is yet a chance of life; the grouse creeps under its shelter, and squats motionless on the ground, but if the surface is naked and bare, there is no chance of escape; the hawks' talons are in his back, then come the screams—all the resistance he can make,—then the blow, and all is over.

The crow, as we have seen, commits desperate ravages among the grouse during the breeding season. Although the mother steals to and from her nest with the greatest secrecy,—although she seldom