GROUSING 41 



to six or seven guns, as witness Glentromie by Kingussie ; 

 Invermark by Brechin, and Huntly Lodge, Aboyne ; and that 

 which has been lacking in quantity has ever been made up 

 for in quality by the more difficult shots offered ; for it 

 is undisputed that driven grouse are harder to kill in the 

 Highlands than in the Lowlands ; they fly faster, while offering 

 a greater variety of shots, thus putting the shooter to a more 

 severe test of skill, and that fact alone is hailed with pleasure 

 by every good man. This arises from two causes, high winds 

 and the broken, hilly nature of the ground driven, which 

 frequently forces the butts to be so placed as to render con- 

 tinuously accurate marksmanship very difficult ; for though 

 there are boxes in the North from which a good shot will kill 

 a large percentage of grouse sent to him, there are likewise 

 many more from which on a windy day he will not account for 

 one in three, and often not even that. On the occasion of 

 a grouse drive one September at Invermark, where, as soon 

 as breakfast was over, we always drew lots for our boxes, the 

 author pulled an unlucky number, and the wind being very high, 

 the birds not only came at a great pace, but flew in any direction 

 they pleased, and but very few in proportion to what were seen 

 came to the guns, so to pass the time we counted the shots, 

 and it took 186 cartridges to put 60 birds into the bag. Since 

 then the number of shots fired at other Highland drives has 

 repeatedly been counted, and in windy weather it has always 

 cost 30 cartridges to put 10 grouse in the bag. Driving is 

 rarely commenced in Scodand so long as the birds will lie to 

 dogs, which will usually be till the end of August. During 

 the ten years that have lapsed since this was written grouse 

 driving in Scotland has made giant strides, for on many 

 shootings days of two to three hundred brace are not un- 

 common, while this year the Moy estate of The Mackintosh, 

 in eight days of driving, yielded the wonderful total of 3,372 

 brace, of which 914 brace were killed in one day. At that 

 period of the year, although it may appear quite calm at the 



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