3O2 LETTERS TO YOUNG SHOOTERS LETTER 



moor, or burn the heather, or assist the grouse to 

 increase by systematically killing down the old birds ; 

 in fact, they had no certain means of doing this before 

 the days of driving. All these modern attentions to 

 grouse greatly tend to their increase in number to 

 the acre to what was the case in past times ; and you 

 may be sure a heavy stock of birds on an English 

 moor means that they are hopelessly wild as far as 

 walking them up is concerned. 



There is no denying that in many parts of Eng- 

 land grouse are so wild on the 12th that the cleverest 

 shooter, with the aid of the best dogs, cannot make a 

 bag in any proportion to the number of birds he sees. 

 That grouse are infinitely wilder in England now 

 than they were formerly there is also no disputing, 

 but there's the fact to make the best of; and you 

 may rest assured, so long as breechloaders and 

 shooters to handle them exist, the birds will not 

 return to their pristine tameness on the moors of 

 England and Wales. 



a good bird to one in poor condition. As an instance of this I know 

 a moor in the north, which peregrines regularly frequented, but the 

 disease came, and though there were plenty of birds left, not a falcon 

 was to be seen till the grouse recovered their health. I have myself 

 long kept trained hawks, and, for my part, would rather give the wild 

 ones their crop full at pleasure than destroy so noble a creature as a 

 peregrine, and I merely refer to this subject here to ventilate a 

 common error. 



