THE BED GROUSE. 59 



ircle, so as to head them ; while the other remams beliind to press 

 hem forward when he is ready ; and, above all things, yon should, 

 or kiUing them at this time, use either No. 1, 2, or 3 shot, in the 

 irgest single gun you can possibly manage ; or, what is better, a 

 ood stout double gun, ^vith Ely's cartridges. Grouse take a 

 arder blow than partridges, and do not fly quite so regular and 

 teady.'' 



On prolonging a tour on the northern moors till the season is 

 omewhat advanced, Mr. LasceUes has the following very judicious 

 bservations : — " In October the weather, though generally in this 

 ountry (the northern moors) fine and open, is yet not so op- 

 tressively hot as in the two preceding months; the autumnal 

 ireezes impart their invigorating assistance, and give a new life to 

 very object aroimd; the earth retains a greater portion of re- 

 reshing dew, and no longer presents an obstinate and un- 

 rofitable surface ; all game are then on the move, and we are no 

 Dnger obhged to search for them in places as impenetrable to the 

 portsman as the overpowering heat from which they have escaped. 

 rrouse,_ partridge, pheasant, hare, — nothing comes amiss— and all 

 re attainable ; for the first-mentioned bird (grouse), if he has not 

 een disturbed siuce August, ^vUl now he as well on a fine day as 

 e would at the commencement of the season ; and, in point of 

 xceUence, there is no comparison. The common weight is about 

 wenty-three ounces, though I have killed them as high as twenty- 

 h. ; and I know an iustance of one being shot ia Yorkshke which, 

 ven after it had travelled to London m the hottest weather imagiti- 

 ble, weighed thirty-two ounces. They increase in size and full- 

 ess of feather mitil November • and then, in my opinion, have a 

 obler appearance than any other description of game whatever ; 

 D pursue them, however, with any chance of success so late in the 

 3ason, your method must be entirely altered, and yon cannot go 

 bout it too quickly. A good stout-barrelled gun, that carries a 

 irge charge, and one steady old dog, will be the most effective ; and 

 D have a still greater advantage, you should select the middle of 

 le day, when the sun is in full power, and the morning of which 

 as been frosty. There is every excuse for a ;Qerson in this case 

 sing all the means which ingenuity and experience may suggest, 

 on will see, perhaps, a pack of grouse running from you, at the 

 istance of five hundred yards, and it would be the_ height of im- 

 rudence to follow them up, under the idea of being able to §et 

 shot ; probably, at the next step you took, they would all rise 

 Dgether and fly for a mile, and would invariably serve you in the 

 ame manner if in a similar way pursued. There are various strata- 

 ems made use of, both to draw them to you, and to induce them 

 3 He till you can come within shot. To attain the first, yon are 

 ither to go by a cu-cuitons route and secrete yourself behind a wall, 

 r in a pit, in the exact hne in which they are running, and await 

 heir approach ; or you are, in this situation, to endeavour to hasten 

 ;, by imitathig the noise they make, and calling them to you ; but in 



