rank. Birds will always nest in a place where they can see all round, if possible, hence their avoidance of long heather. [1] Nesting
Dry ground is always preferred; birds will not nest on boggy or damp ground, and are more likely to leave their nests on account of wet than for any other reason.
On some moors where the heather has been very closely burnt or the stock is unusually large, the Grouse appear to be unable to find nesting ground exactly suited to their requirements, and on these occasions they will boldly depart from their usual habits and will nest in short heather, flat dead bracken, or even on a bare unsheltered piece of burnt ground, leaving the nest as open as that of the Lapwing. It is important to note that in all cases open sites devoid of all covering are preferred to really long overgrown heather.
The time of nesting varies according to the season and the latitude. As a rule, most of the eggs are laid by the latter end of April and the beginning of May; but a case has been reported of eggs being found as early as Time of
hatching. March 28th, and the Rev. W. B. Daniel records that "on the 5th of March, 1794, the Gamekeeper of Mr Lister (now Lord Ribblesdale), of Gisburne Park, discovered on the Manor of Twitten, near Pendle Hill, a brood of Red Grouse seemingly about ten days old, which could fly about as many yards at a time. This was an occurrence never known to have happened before so early in the year."[2] Macdonald states that the hen begins to lay at the end of March,[3] while Macpherson, writing in the Fur and Feather Series, says that "In the Island of Skye April 24th is a decidedly early date for a full clutch of Grouse eggs"[4] It is an interesting fact that, from the evidence obtained from many moors, of varying altitudes ranging from the south of Wales to the north of Sutherland, there is a difference of only two or three days in the dates when the earliest eggs are found; March 30th in Yorkshire and Perthshire, and April 1st on high moors in Inverness and Sutherland are dates frequently recorded for the first nest. The date at which the first clutch is completed varies by a full fortnight on high and low ground and on north
- ↑ Macdonald in "Grouse Disease" makes the following statement: "The happiest condition in which a nest can be found is in growing heather of about a foot in length, and in the immediate proximity of short young heather." (Macdonald, "Grouse Disease," p. 23. London: W. H. Allen & Co., Ltd., 1883.) And in another place he writes: "Grouse never nest amongst old, rough heather, always in a little tuft at the side or among the bent." (Ibid, p. 26) Macpherson in the Fur and Feather Series, states that "It is a fallacy to suppose that Grouse like to nest in very old heather." (Fur and Feather Series, "The Grouse," p. 22. London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1894.)
- ↑ Daniel, "Rural Sports," vol. iii. p. 108. London: Longman, 1812
- ↑ "Grouse Disease," p. 99.
- ↑ Fur and Feather Series, "The Grouse," p. 21.
