220 THE GROUSE 



Always try and take the leading bird 

 with your first barrel ; grouse coming to 

 a butt low over the heather often appear 

 to be flying all abreast in a long line ; but 

 this is merely due to your point of view, 

 and on looking at them more closely you 

 will invariably find that they are in reality 

 more or less widely strung out. 



If you kill the leading bird with your 

 first shot you will have time to choose 

 and deal with your second bird before 

 they are right on top of you. 



Your second bird should always be 

 the one following nearest to the flight of 

 the first ; this obviates the necessity for 

 altering your aim and turning your gun in 

 a new direction between the shots, and 

 there is little enough time to get on to 

 another bird at a different angle in the 

 few seconds it takes the grouse to cross 

 the 20 or 30 yards of killing range, 

 from where your first bird was shot, to 

 where they are either all round you or too 

 close in to the line to shoot with safety. 



You must hold well over birds coming 



