BED onorsE.] 



B i F 1 !•: LI). WOO I), A X 1) W A T M Iv'. 



ITAItMliiAN. 



from eleven to three nt the later periods of 

 the season, as they are thou oxtrcmely wild, 

 and will only lie toU-rably during the lew 

 hours which are favoured by a warm sun. 

 I'nloss the weather is very line, you will see 

 t.iom runniii;;, and f^ftting up live hundred 

 v:\rda before you. In this case, let one person 

 take an immense circle, so as to head them; 

 while the other remains behind to press them 

 forward wlion he is ready; and, above all 

 things, you should, for killing tliem at this 

 time° use either No. 1, 2, or 3 shot, in the 

 largest single gun you can possibly manage ; 

 or, what is better, a good stout double gun, 

 with Ely's cartridges. Grouse take a harder 

 blow than partridges, and do not lly quite so 

 regular and steady." 



Should a sportsman be solitarily engaged in 

 shooting red grouse, ho ought not to travel 

 far, but hunt the ground well. This not only 

 saves much fatigue, but often leads to success. 

 Birds do not generally take very extended 

 flights ; and if the ground should be irregular 

 or undulatory, they will commonly be found 

 on the sides of some bill, or knoll, or where 

 the liug is long and strong. They are always 

 variable, even when there is no apparent cause 

 to the sportsman's comprehension for their 

 being so. Their movements depend upon 

 circumstances which are hidden from our 

 scrutiny, and which we have not generally the 

 power to discover. There is always a chance 

 of meeting with birds where the berries of the 

 ling are plentiful, particularly if these locali- 

 ties be visited at a proper time of the day. 

 Noontide is not a very favourable period ; but 

 when the mists bang long on the mountain's 

 brow, it is the only time a shooter has to practise 

 his art. Then he should be up and doing. He 

 should range the country in the spirit of one 

 who is not only bent on making his sport a 

 pleasure, but a source of health, heightened by 

 the enjoyment of the beautiful and the grand 

 in Nature, wherever she unfolds those attri- 

 butes before him. It should always bo re- 

 membered that the mere amusement of shoot- 

 ing is by no means all that is to be obtained 

 Irora a judicious handling of the dog and gun. 

 Tiie field and the forest, the mountain and 

 tl;e glen, have each its appropriate points of 

 attraction. One has its beautiful kine to gaze 

 on ; another its melodious birds to delight the 



ear; another its majestic form towering up to 

 the sky ; whilst another allords u channel to a 

 stream of " sweet waters," that ia rolling itself 

 to some distant loch. These are somo of the 

 objects to bo enjoyed whilst engaged in Hhoot- 

 ing, with which they should be connected in 

 the mind of every sportsman. 



Till': rTARMIG.VN. 

 The Flarmigan, or WItitc Grouse (Tetrao 

 Lagopus, Linn.), is found in almost every part 

 of Europe, the northern portions of Asia and 

 America, and, some writers say, even in Africa. 

 According to Sir William Jardine, it ia spread 

 over most of the Alpine districts of Europe; 

 and is sought for with great perseverance, as, 

 to the inhabitants of these inhospitable re- 

 gions, it is an actual necessary of life. This 

 bird is nearly of the same size as the red 

 grouse. Its bill is black, and its summer 

 plumage is a pale brown, or ash colour, and 

 the upper parts of the body are mottled with 

 a number of small dusky spots and bars. On 

 the head and neck these bars are broader, and 

 more intermingled with white ; as are, like- 

 wise, the wings, with the exception of the 

 shafts of the quills, which are black. In the 

 winter season this plumage is changed into 

 pure white, except that, in the male, there is a 

 black line between the bill and the eye. The 

 tail consists of sixteen feathers, the two middle 

 ones being ash-coloured in summer, and white 

 in winter ; the two next, slightly marked with 

 white near the ends, and the rest are wholly 

 black. The upper tail coverts are tolerably 

 IcKig, and almost cover the tail entire. Its 

 habitat is found to be on high and lofty 

 grounds, and it can bear the most intense 

 cold. It even lives and thrives amid the 

 snows of Greenland. In Britain it is chiefly 

 found in the Highlands of Scotland, in the 

 Hebrides and Orkney islands, and, occasionally, 

 in the more elevated localities of Cumberland 

 and "Wales. Bufl'on tells us, that it sedu- 

 lously avoids heat, and loves the biting frosts 

 on the tops of the highest mountains; and 

 when the snow melts on the sides of the hills, 

 it constantly ascends to loftier regions, till it 

 gains the summits on which it forms holes, 

 and burrows in the snow. These birds pair at 

 the same period as the ordinary grouse. The 

 female lays eight or ten eggs, which are white, 



535 



