THE GEOUSE. 141 



have found at least sixty brace on the day we 

 shot over that ground, and probably have 

 bagged thirty brace out of them. 



Grouse will occasionally rear ten young 

 ones, but they average from three to six young 

 birds to each pair, accordmg to the season. It 

 is very rare for them not to bring up even one 

 or two in the worst seasons. When barren 

 braces are met with it is nearly always caused 

 by then: first mates having been killed or their 

 eggs having been eaten. Yet when grouse 

 have not been numerous enough to make it 

 worth while for gentlemen to go after them, we 

 have known the keepers often sent out to shoot 

 these barren braces for not breeding, under the 

 idea that they must be very old birds. 



As a proof that fair sport may be obtained 

 where ground has always been considered as 

 not worth shooting over, we shot over a beat 

 on August 20, 1869, and did not in the whole 

 day even see a single grouse, but in 1873 one 

 gun bagged eighteen brace in a few hours on 

 that same beat. 



