CAPERCAILLIE 19 



as he was a good shot and a keen one to boot. However, 

 as bad luck would have it, the woods seemed almost 

 destitute of birds, and the few shots he did get were hard, 

 so he failed to score, and the next day he left, much dis- 

 appointed at his ill success, as one does not get Caper- 

 shootino- every dav. All that night, however, and the 



/ / o * 



next two days a fearful storm of wind and snow raged, 

 after which I took my friend up from Glasgow again to 

 try his luck once more. We were met next morning 

 by James Keay (our old keeper and the most genial and 

 good-natured creature ever created), who gave us the 

 pleasing intelligence that on the previous day, when look- 

 ing for a wounded Roe, he had found the Capers in one 

 or two thick parts of the woods " fairly swarming." 



The day was unusually calm and still, as is usual after 

 a gale, which no doubt accounted for our seeing but very 

 few birds until the afternoon, for they had probably 

 availed themselves at once of the opportunity to return 

 home now that the winds had gone down again ; they 

 had not all gone, however, for on driving quite a small 

 corner of thick firs no less than fourteen came forward 

 over one stand, though how many went out at another 

 corner, at which there was no gun, it would be hard to 

 say. Also, in another part of the woods we found a large 

 number together ; some could be seen sitting high on the 

 tops of the firs looking about them, meditating a start for 

 the home they had left up amongst the rocks of Rohallion. 

 We hardly got a shot at these, as they moved off long- 

 before the beaters had begun to advance, and we were 

 just getting into our places ; they evidently had no in- 

 tention of waiting in a place where they could see their 



