110 



CARTING TO MOORGAME. 



The month of September, as already mentioned, is one of 

 the worst periods of the season for killing grouse : after 

 the August bombardment they are harassed, restless, and 

 packed, and moreover they do not yet " show" at all. They 

 are in fact wilder, or at least less negotiable than at any other 

 season. The Blackgame which in September serves so well to 

 fill the gap, have by the end of the month been pretty well 

 thinned ; moreover the survivors, to a considerable extent, 

 leave the high moors during the " stubble period " to feed 

 on grain in the lower lands, and as those which remain are 

 now hopelessly wild, the season for shooting Blackgame over 

 dogs j^er sc, is thus practically over before mid- October. 



But in October a new era opens in the gi-ouse-shooting ; 

 so that, between the two game-birds, there is no lack of 

 employment for the gun, and no break in the sequence of 

 sport on the moors. 



This new era arises from the altered habits of the grouse. 

 They no longer cower in packs among the shaggy heather 

 of some inaccessible slope, where they were wont to shelter 

 from the bleak rains of September. The first bright frosty 

 mornings in October rapidly dissolve the packs in twos, 

 fours, or sixes, scattered all over the hills, and sitting bold 

 and conspicuous on every knowe. At this season a man with 

 a good f>ye, and who knows where to look for them, may get 

 several brace in a day on rugged or broken ground, either by 

 stalking the birds he has viewed sitting, or by "edging" 

 them from the gullies or peat-ravines which intersect most 

 moors. In the latter case excellent point-shots may be ob- 

 tained by the assistance of an old dog which understands the 

 business, and will indicate the position of (unseen) birds on 



