THE BLACK GROUSE AND THE PARTRIDGE. 145 



he can find food and shelter in the winter 

 days, and he is content. We should like to see 

 a three years' jubilee given to these birds in the 

 English counties where they are still to be met 

 with. There were a few near Aldershot in 1862, 

 but the young broods were all shot down when- 

 ever they were found. It seems most unfair 

 to commence shooting them on August 20. 

 They are hatched on the same date as the 

 pheasant and do not acquire their full size or 

 perfect plumage any sooner, and the grace they 

 get by ceasing to shoot them on December 10 

 is of little use to them. 



Perhaps their management is better under- 

 stood and they are more numerous in Dumfries- 

 shire than in most places. In October, when 

 they are fine strong birds, a party sometimes 

 kill 200 brace in a week in that county. We 

 love to see them, particularly in the spring ; and 

 to creep near a party of old cocks, and watch 

 them strutting about like turkey-cocks with their 

 wings and tails spread out, is most amusing. 



h 



