ON SHOOTING. 



183 



-^ 



PHEASANTS THERE WERE, TOO. 



of a lovely loch, an island in its midst clothed with the giant 

 Osmunda regalis fern, growing luxuriantly in that moist 

 and frostless spot. The surrounding slopes were a chaos 

 of heather and rocks and birch scrub, and the feeding- 

 grounds adjacent put a juicy and succulent " finish " to the 

 woodcocks which made others seem dry and tasteless by 

 comparison. The figures on that day were : Woodcocks, 

 twenty-three ; snipe, two ; grouse, one ; pheasants, one ; 

 blackcocks, three. 



