136 GAiyiE PRESERVERS AND BIRD PRESERVERS. 



there is heather, whether one thousand feet 

 above the sea, or on great boggy flats almost 

 below the sea level, the landowners have only 

 themselves to thank for lack of grouse which, 

 if not as numerous as in Perthshire, might be 

 still numerous enough to give first-rate sport. 



Many have no keepers. The shepherds have 

 a Httle something a head for any crows they 

 may catch. Others, perhaps, have one man to 

 30,000 acres, and though there are plenty of 

 excellent men among these, not a few literally 

 never set foot on the moors from the day the 

 sportsmen cease to shoot in October until about 

 a fortnight before his return in August. Then 

 they go out a little with the dogs, and appear 

 full of information about where the birds are. 

 They trap the weasels round the stone dykes, 

 and stalk the crows on the seashore. But they 

 never dream of following the falcon to her 

 eyrie, perhaps -B.Ye miles off, and watching day 

 by day in March winds and rain till they kill 

 her ; or of building a hiding-place, and waiting 



