DEER KILLED IN THE FIELDS. 305 



there be a turnip field within half a dozen miles of his haunts, 

 is sure to find it out, and pay it nightly visits ; at first, 

 coining alone, but soon accompanied by a herd of followers, 

 who do great damage to the farmer by trampling down and 

 eating the turnips. The owner of the field, if he has so little 

 of a Highlander about him as to be able to resist having a 

 shot at the deer himself, is sure to have some hanger-on or 

 acquaintance who will take the trouble off his hands : accord- 

 ingly, when the moon is of a good age, a hole is dug in the 

 middle of the field during the day-time, while the nightly 

 marauders are miles away. Towards twilight the poacher 

 conceals himself in this rough hiding-place ; if there is snow 

 on the ground he puts on a white cap and shirt over his 

 other dress, and waits patiently till he hears the tread of the 

 deer. Having fed with impunity more than once in the 

 place, they come boldly and without hesitation into the midst 

 of the field, scooping out the turnips with their teeth and 

 breaking them to pieces with their sharp hoofs as they pass 

 to and fro through the crop, playing and frequently fighting 

 with each other. If the wind that bugbear to deer-stalkers 

 and deer-poachers does not betray the presence of their 

 enemy, it is more than probable that before many minutes 

 are over some unfortunate stag comes close to the place of 

 ambuscade, when he receives either a couple of bullets or a 

 handful of slugs in the shoulder. Startled by the report, 

 and not at the first moment knowing whence it comes, the 

 rest of the deer are likely enough before they make off to 

 collect in a group in the middle of the field, perhaps within a 

 few yards of their hidden enemy. If so, another of the herd 

 is probably killed, and the remainder rush off and do not 

 return to the same tempting spot for some little time. 

 Before daylight the hole is refilled, the dead game is taken 

 away, and no traces remain of what has happened. Eoe are 

 constantly killed in the same manner, and are even caught 

 in snares made of strong small rope. 



Black game and grouse are obtained by the poachers in 

 great numbers late in the season, by means, not only of tame 

 call-birds of both sexes, but also by a call-pipe. However 

 wild they may be and inaccessible to the fair sportsman, 

 these birds can always be brought within shot by some 

 means. A cock grouse on hearing the well-imitated call of 

 the female immediately answers it, and, approaching by re- 

 peated short flights, stopping every now and then to crow as 



