58 SHOOTING. 



a great drawback to their use clurmg the very hot months of August 

 and September. We have known, hoAvever, some gentlemen well 

 skilled in. grouse-shooting, who have taken the pointer in preference 

 to any other kind of dog ; so that perhaps, upon the whole, there 

 may be a fan balance of advantages accorded to each kind. 



The red grouse differ in numbers and in size according to the 

 season. Wet, cold, ungenial weather not only retards the pairing 

 of the birds, but is hkewise extremely prejudicial to the hatching 

 of the broods, which delight in fine sunny dajis, and revel in the 

 luxury of a dry atmosphere. When they emerge from the shell 

 they assume among sportsmen the name of cheepers, and when they 

 advance to a more stately size they are 0,2^^^ poults. ^ They are to 

 be found on their feeding grounds both in the mornings and even- 

 ings ; and if they are distui'bed, they seek out some favourite spot 

 of shelter, chiefly preferring those sections of the moors which 

 abound with long ling and roughish brushwood. 



The time of the year has considerable influence on the habits and 

 movements of the grouse. Prosty weather is favourable for their 

 capture, as they seem then very torpid and lifeless. Wet and 

 windy weather is not favourable to the shooter. At such times 

 the birds leave the high grounds, and seek out sheltered spots in 

 some comparatively dry and secluded localities. Red grouse 

 generally grow very wild in the months of November and Decem- 

 ber ; although when the season is any way favourable some good 

 days' sport may still be obtained. The lower and sheltered grounds 

 are then the best places to find them ; for the advancing season is 

 daily cutting off their resources in food, and they are diivento seek 

 provender in lower and more cultivated grounds. 



Li rising, grouse almost take a perpendicular dii-ection, and then 

 go in a straight line at an elevation of ^ ten or twelve yards. The 

 exact moment to fire is when they are Just_ about to change from 

 the perpendicular to the rectOinear direction. There is a sort of 

 pause in their flight, which is favourable to the sportsman, when he 

 can avail himself of this movement. But this requires a quick eye,, 

 and considerable practice. When the red grouse begin to associate ia 

 large numbers, as they invariably do about the end of October, or the 

 first or second week in November, they are approacTied with con- 

 siderable difiiculty ; for they post sentmel birds to keep a look out, 

 and it is a mere thing of chance if you can near them by a hundred 

 and fifty yards. When the weather, however, becomes and con- 

 tinues long cold, this wildness is considerably abated, and they 

 often show themselves as tame as barndoor fowls. 



Colonel Hawker tells us that " for shooting grouse select a fine 

 sunshiny day, from about eight till five in August and September, 

 and from eleven to three at the later periods of the season, as they 

 are then extremely wild, and will only He tolerably during the few 

 hours which are favoured by a warm sun. Unless the weather is 

 very fine, you will see them running and getting up five hundred 

 yards before you. In this case, let one person take an immense 



