304 A YEAR OF SPORT AND NATURAL HISTORY. 



one brown bird falls to Jack's gun within twenty paces of where I 

 stand, while another, rising to the report, falls to my first barrel. 

 Two woodcocks for two cartridges, a real good beginning ! 



Beyond the brook there is a mile or so of broken sandy hillocks 

 interspersed with sundry bare-looking and stunted pines ; here the 

 rabbits are numerous, giving us some pretty sport and Fan much 

 excitement, but eight bunnies only are added to the gillie's bag 

 before we reach the strip of thick juniper and tall heather which 

 runs along the foot of the abrupt ascent to the moor. This 

 generally contains a blackcock or two, and as we enter it I have 

 the luck to bring down, with a desperately long shot, a magnificent 

 old bird in full plumage, which Fan retrieves, after a somewhat 

 lengthy pursuit, one wing only being broken. Presently from under 

 her nose there bounds away a great brown hare, looking nearly as 

 big as a donkey and a good deal fatter, but she is not fast enough, 

 and Jack stops her with his second barrel just as she tops a bank 

 of peat. This hill-side, or " face," extends for a distance of about 

 a couple of miles, and is really a capital bit of shooting, but it 

 wants, at least, six guns in line to do it justice, the ground being 

 extremely rough, and requiring close work, so we leave it. alone for 

 the time being. Now we have reached the top ; before us the 

 brown moors stretch away as far as the eye can reach, and behind 

 us at our feet lies a great tract of " Easter Ross," with its rich farm- 

 lands, its noble woods, and its firth-washed shores. 



A pair of very steady setters are now let loose, and Fan takes 

 their place in the leash, not ill-satisfied with her morning's work 

 apparently, and not averse to a rest, for she knows quite well it will 

 not be long before her services are again brought into requisition. 

 "There they go," " Hang the grouse," " Next parish," "Steady, 



