THE GROUSE. 133 



young ones when they were a week old. And 

 these gentlemen return home dehghted with 

 their sport. As they will often tell their 

 friends, they shot at thirteen head and bagged 

 twelve. How different to the barbarous sports- 

 men who, they will hear, on the same day, a 

 few miles off, bagged thirty brace of grouse. 

 Yet they have done a very cruel action, and 

 have interfered with the balance of Nature with 

 a vengeance, for those few poor grouse hap- 

 pened to be hterally all that were left alive in 

 that part of the country, and it will be many a 

 day before the cheerful crow of the grouse 

 cock will be heard again on those hills. 



One gentleman, being asked by Mr. Stiurt, 

 ' Are you a game preserver ? ' replies, ' Yes.' 

 Being asked if he preserves birds of prey in 

 the next question, he replies, ' Yes, everything : 

 eagles, peregrine falcons, and merlins.' 



We think this gentleman would have an- 

 swered the first question more correctly if he 

 had rephed, ' No, I am a game destroyer. I 



