SOME EARLY EXPERIENCES 43 



" When the old bird rose I noticed she flew very 

 heavily and had great difficulty in rising, and after 

 she had flown a few yards I realised that she was 

 carrying a young one. She appeared to carry it 

 between her thighs, and flew a distance of nearly 

 twenty yards before dropping it. Two other 

 young ones were subsequently found close to- 

 gether near the spot where I flushed the old bird, 

 so that possibly she was brooding them when 

 disturbed. 



" This is the only occasion on which I have seen 

 a Woodcock carry her young, though I have often 

 flushed old birds when with a brood." 



P. D. Malloch, who now owns one of the largest 

 businesses in Scotland as an estate agent and 

 fishing-tackle maker, was a close friend of mine in 

 these early days. From small beginnings, he has 

 prospered. Owing to his wonderful knowledge and 

 experience in all matters relating both to sport and 

 the natural history of fish and insects he is able 

 to advise anglers from a practical point of view. 

 What he does not know about Scottish lochs and 

 rivers is not worth much, so many travellers to 

 the north go to his place in Perth to profit by his 

 words of wisdom. I have known him intimately 

 for forty-six years, and we have had many happy 

 days together on loch and river, and have derived 

 much pleasure from our continuous friendship. 

 As an angler I believe he has no superior, and as a 

 sportsman is quite of the best, for I have often seen 

 him when fish were rising and he was catching them, 

 and whilst his comrades were having no luck, put 

 down his rod and adjust the right flies on another 



