Return of the black grouse

THERE is a suggestion cropping up in ornithological conversation that the next bird species to be the subject of a re-introduction programme in this country should be the black grouse and that the site of the programme would be on upland blanket bog in Co Mayo.

They are very handsome birds that still flourish in Scotland and northern England, where they are sometimes known as black game or black cock. But, as is often the case, the suggestion is causing controversy.

The problem is that all the other bird species that have been introduced or discussed for introduction in modern times are species which we know, with certainty, once lived here and became extinct, usually as a result of human activity.