GROUSE SHOOTING AND GROUSE. 157 



I observed one peculiarity in the habits of the grouse in 

 1847, which was new to me. They were collected in large 

 flocks on the 12th of August in the fields of oats in the 

 elevated districts, which were at that time perfectly unripe 

 and green. In every field near the moors there were large 

 flocks of the old birds busy in the midst of the corn ; but they 

 always took the precaution to leave some sentries outside, 

 who, perched on a piece of rock or an old wall, stood with 

 their necks stretched to their utmost height, on the look-out 

 for any approaching enemy. When the corn is ripe, and 

 especially after it is cut and in sheaves on the fields, the 

 grouse are very fond of it, and fill their crops daily with oats, 

 like so many chickens, but before this season I never saw them 

 attack the green and empty oats. There was at this time a very 

 unusual deficiency in the growth and bloom of the heather, 

 causing a great scarcity of the tender shoots which form the 

 principal food of grouse ; and this may have driven them to the 

 new kind of food, to which they appeared to take very kindly. 



It is in the oat -fields belonging to the small farmers and 

 others living near the grouse hills where the greatest havoc is 

 committed amongst grouse by the poachers, for there they 

 can be caught with the greatest facility, in any number that 

 may be required for the market ; and it is more difficult for 

 keepers to prevent this kind of poaching than any other, as 

 it may be carried on by girls or children late in the evening 

 and early in the morning, the snares being removed during 

 the daytime, or on the appearance of a keeper, whose approach 

 in this kind of open country may be perceived from a sufficient 

 distance to enable the poacher to remove all traces of his 

 proceedings. Thousands of grouse are killed in this manner 

 for the London and other markets. 



This year, 1848, on the very first day of the shooting, I 

 happened to be in a poulterer's shop in a large town in 

 Northumberland, when a servant came in to buy a brace or 

 two of " well-kept grouse, Jit for immediate use" for his master : 

 and a brace was instantly handed to him from amongst a 

 great number, which looked as if they had been killed a 

 week or ten days ; at any rate they were nearly putrid, and 

 according to my taste, fit only to be flung away. If this 

 system commences so long before the birds are legally sale- 

 able, we may easily imagine what an immense number of 

 grouse are illegally destroyed during the whole season, in 

 spite of all the expenses incurred to preserve them. 

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