254 IN FOREST AND ON HILL 



late ; they stumble across the nests of the sitting 

 hens, and mark the basking-places of the newly- 

 hatched chickens to a nicety. They are for ever 

 followed by lean, frolicsome collies, always eager 

 for a range, a rush in, and a worry. They may 

 gratify a long-standing grudge with one wave of the 

 hand, which will seal the doom of a whole pocketful 

 of " cheepers." So it is absolutely indispensable to 

 endeavour to conciliate them. And though they may 

 be " dour " and bristly when rubbed the wrong way, 

 for the most part they are frank and manly fellows, 

 open to a kindly " crack " and a pouchful of tobacco, 

 and with no sort of objection to an occasional sovereign. 

 Once make them your friends, and they will be ready 

 enough to make amicable arrangements as to gathering 

 their flocks, burning the heather, &c., which are 

 privileges they are pretty free to exercise at their 

 discretion, whatever the covenants and restrictions in 

 their lease. 



The solitary form of sport in which Mr. Colquhoun 

 has to own to limited experience is ptarmigan-shooting. 

 Naturally he has bagged ptarmigan repeatedly, but he 

 always had to work for stray specimens. He says he 

 has never shot on the mountains of Ross and Inverness, 

 which are relatively accessible, and where the birds are 

 far more numerous than elsewhere. We have been 

 more fortunate, and can confirm what he says as to the 

 abundance of the birds and the comparative ease of 

 procuring them. In those Ross-shire shootings to 

 which we alluded apropos to the wild goats, the 



