A HIGHLAND LAIRD 37 



now a couple of roe who have been crouching in their 

 lair with ears laid back and heads buried in the heather, 

 hoping in vain that the vacarme would go by. Now 

 they stumble among some partridges that rise only to 

 scatter and drop again ; and then in the corner of some 

 thicker patch of cover they possibly have the agreeable 

 distraction of a brilliant little bouquet of pheasants. A 

 little farther, and they are in the best of the woodcock 

 ground. Small streamlets, half choked with the frost, 

 come trickling down among rime-covered rushes ; the 

 cry of " mark-cock " makes itself heard more and more 

 frequently in every variety of Gaelic gutturals ; and 

 then follows the shot or the succession of shots, as 

 the crescent-winged bird goes zigzagging softly away 

 among the scattered tree-stems in some clearing in the 

 copsewood. Or there is a whir and a loud rustle 

 through the trees, and the heavy blackcock is brought 

 up in his rapid flight, to come down with a crash 

 among the branches that interlace themselves over the 

 brook below. 



In winter, when there is little else to be had, there 

 is duck and wild-fowl shooting ; and that in spring 

 and early summer is followed by the salmon-fishing. 

 The laird prides himself on his skill with the rod 

 rather more than on his prowess with the rifle ; and 

 he is as well off for water as he ought to be, con- 

 sidering the variety of it that there is on his domains. 

 Trout swarm everywhere ; and though the little yellow- 

 bellied fellows in the brooks and rivulets seldom run 

 more than four to the pound, they are wonderfully 



