was doubtless due to their straying off our ground. They have an area of about 1,200 or 1,500 acres of heather, which is for the most part surrounded by grazing land. The stock is now reduced to about eight or ten brace.' It must be the wish of all good sportsmen to see such experiments as that just described meet with an enlarged success. We do not take as much pains to improve our sport at home as we might. I wonder, for example, that landowners do not unite to turn down gadwall and other fowl all over the country, and thus convert our ponds and rivers into a national preserve of wildfowl. There are thousands of places that would hold a brace of teal or a few pairs of pintail, if only they were planted with large beds of rushes and well preserved. As for the grouse, its good qualities have begun to attract attention among our Continental neighbours. The pioneer was Baron Dickson, who established red grouse in Sweden between twenty and thirty years ago. It is now reported that the Belgian Government intends to people the sandy heaths of that country with drafts of red grouse.

Already the example of Baron Dickson has been emulated by Count Kniphausen, who owns a property in East Friesland, and has given the following account of his experiment: 'In the autumn of 1891 I ordered

grouse

from a game dealer in England five pairs of live for my game preserves near Wittmund in East Friesland, as an experiment in the way of naturalising this foreign game bird with us. My prospects regarding this attempt did not appear to me unpromising, as I could offer the birds on my sporting domain freedom from disturbance, plenty of water, heather, and various berry-bearing plants, and patches of buckwheat, to all of which these birds are said to be partial. The grouse were transported across the North Sea in November. They were sent from Scotland via London and Flushing, the consequence of which was that, by reason of the long railway journeys, the birds suffered very much, and succumbed, chiefly, I fear, from want of water-at any rate, I only received one pair alive on their arrival at their destination. I had taken pains beforehand to erect for them, in a thicket, an aviary of wire netting, with canvas overhead, provided plentifully with water and buckwheat, and with the wire netting stuck full of sprigs of heather, partly so that they might feel themselves more hidden, but chiefly because I understand that heather tops are their chief source of nourishment. After a few days' rest I had one of the sides of the inclosure raised, so that the grouse might go out of their own accord. In the spring of 1893 I was rewarded by coming across the

cock grouse in the company of a blackcock on my preserve, and had the pleasure of listening to his call. It also came to my knowledge that the hen was alive, and that she had incubated for about fourteen days, though too late in the year, for it was during the harvesting of the buckwheat that she was disturbed by the mowers. The cock and hen both flew away, and the hen, alas ! never sought her nest again. The eggs, fourteen in number, I have preserved. This delightful discovery, that a pair of grouse had lived all but two years on my property, and had even made a good attempt to rear a brood, made me resolve to go on with my experiments. The dealer to whom I addressed myself undertook, for twenty marks the pair, to deliver ten brace of grouse to me; and we came to an understanding that he should send them at my cost from Hull to Bremen, that he should undertake their being carefully secured in boxes made expressly for the purpose, and that he should not be bound to make good any losses that might occur. Messrs. Weltmann, in Hull, who forward goods for the North German Lloyd's Company, kindly undertook the delivery of them, and promised to see that they did not want for food or water on their thirty hours' sea voyage; and thus, to my joy, my gamekeeper, whom I had sent to Bremen to fetch the birds, was

enabled to deliver to me the whole lot of seven brace (more were not to be had at the time).

'The birds this time flew strongly when let out in their inclosure, but did not hurt themselves, owing to the canvas spread over the top. My sporting neighbours all belong to the Prussian and Oldenburg Forest and Moor Game Preservation Societies, to both of which I successfully applied, and they have, as before on the introduction of black-game, promised that for some years to come the protection of these grouse shall be looked upon by them as a strict duty. So it is to be hoped that this attempt to naturalise them in the plains of North-West Germany may succeed, as it did with the black-game, which had for many a long year been extinct there.'

And here I may remark that, as the red grouse is systematically netted in large numbers in the north of England, it should be easy enough for any of our Continental neighbours to repeat the experiment just described on a larger scale. Any such endeavour to naturalise the red grouse abroad should be extended over several seasons, and care should be taken to supply an adequate number of female birds. The latter are rather less hardy than the opposite sex, and are consequently more liable to perish on the journey than their male companions.

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It has been suggested that the eggs of the grouse could be exported to other countries. No doubt Count Kniphausen might very well have tried the experiment of introducing grouse eggs into the nests of greyhens. The eggs could be obtained in Yorkshire, and carried by water to their destination without incurring much risk. But very few sportsmen would allow eggs to be lifted on their moors, and any trafficking in the eggs of game birds gives an unfortunate stimulus to poaching practices. On the other hand, live grouse might safely be sent very long distances if packed in roomy cages and not overcrowded. The tops of the cages should be lined with canvas, so that the birds could not injure their heads by flying upwards. I remember a charming sand grouse which became extremely domesticated and familiar with the members of the household to which it belonged. It was fearful, however, of strangers, and when alarmed the poor bird almost always started upwards and struck the wooden roof of the cage. I mention this practical point, because I have found by experience that, obvious as it seems to be, it is in fact generally disregarded by those persons who send live grouse about the country. I feel sure that its recognition would materially reduce the risks of travelling.