160 TETRAO TETRIX. 



do. Farther on in the season, the old cocks are most frequent- 

 ly found among ferns, and very deep heather or long grass, 

 near to water. I have also often found them among loose grey 

 stones, near to craggy cliffs, sometimes three or four together. 

 On one occasion I killed a very fine Blackcock in rather a sin- 

 gular way. I happened to be near to an old plantation, and my 

 friend at least six hundred yards into the moor, when he called 

 Mark ! I turned round, and observed a cock flying directly 

 towards me. Raising my gun, I waited until I judged him 

 sufficiently near, w^hen I fired, and brought him dead to the 

 ground. It is very difficult to shoot a bird flying directly 

 towards you, and I have no doubt that in this instance his 

 eyes were directed towards the dogs, and not to me. At 

 the beginning of the season, the 20th of August, they sit 

 so close that I have again and again taken them alive with 

 my hands in a heather bush. When wounded they always 

 get to the first hole they can find, or bury themselves deep 

 in the heather. Near to Craigdarroch, the seat of Cutlar 

 Fergusson, M. P., my friend and I had a day's shooting, 

 and although we travelled over excellent ground, we did 

 not see above eight old hens, five of which we killed. 

 They were all barren, and not one young bird did we meet 

 with. I remarked that the old hens kept together, and if my 

 memory does not deceive me, the five were all killed in one 

 field. My friend always made it a rule to kill the barren hens, 

 for he alleged they fought with their prolific neighbours and 

 destroyed their young. Late in the season, and in very stormy 

 w^eather, they all get into packs, in the same manner as the 

 Red Grouse, and then defy the skill of the sportsman. Their 

 feeding time seems to be the morning and evening. I have 

 shot many in corn fields, but never far from their cover. They 

 seem to be particularly fond of barley. It is supposed by many 

 that Black Game are driving the Red Grouse from their ground. 

 This, however, I do not think is the case, as I have always ob- 

 served that the former prefer low marshy ground, and the lat- 

 ter young heather on high ground. When the old Red Cock 

 raises his head from the heather (a phenomenon which sports- 



