162 THE GROUSE 



different parts of the ground, and to 

 break up the various coveys ; this leads 

 to birds of one covey enlarging the circle 

 of their acquaintance, and eventually seek- 

 ing their mates outside the vicious limits 

 of their own family. 



When shooting grouse over dogs, it is 

 by no means an uncommon occurrence 

 for two guns to " mop up " the whole of 

 a covey, when the old birds get killed 

 first, and the young birds broken up in 

 good holding cover. This must always 

 be detrimental to the breeding prospects, 

 for it makes one natural " cross " less to 

 be hoped for. In any case, over dogs 

 some coveys must always bear the brunt 

 and suffer heavy loss, while others get 

 away without losing a bird. We may 

 reasonably suppose that in driving the 

 losses are more evenly distributed ; oc- 

 casionally a covey coming between two 

 good guns in an up-wind drive may get 

 hardly dealt with, but if it were possible 

 justly to apportionate the casualties at 

 the end of a season, it would probably 



