BLACKGAME 99 



with the old and hardy stagers who monopolise the 

 harems. 



In the good old days when Blackgame were far tamer 

 and more numerous than they are now, old sportsmen 

 will tell you that they could be shot by walking up, right 

 on to the end of the season, and that they were in nowise 

 wilder than Grouse fifty years ago. 



There are always certain spots on or about a moor 

 which Blackgame love to frequent. These will be pretty 

 sure to be certain finds for them, except during feeding 

 hours, provided they have not been driven to seek shelter 

 in thick cover during rough weather, nor have been 

 previously disturbed ; and a good keeper who knows 

 his work, and has studied the line of flight taken 

 by the birds on leaving, can, with a couple of beaters, 

 move them in the required direction much more 

 easily than Grouse or Capercaillie. The old bird on the 

 watch raises his neck for a second on apprehending the 

 danger, and immediately the whole pack rise on the 

 wing and take a line, often a very circuitous one, towards 

 one or other of their favourite abodes, generally crossing 

 in their flight one particular point, which of course will 

 have been ascertained by the keeper, and where the guns 

 will be placed. They are as obstinate sometimes as Eoe, 

 and often one man, judiciously placed, will have the effect 

 of o-ettino- the birds forward, where a number would fail. 



o o 



I am only now speaking, of course, of incidental or 

 quickly improvised drives, such as one frequently has 

 in the course of a day's shooting in the Highlands, 

 and where birds are not necessarily plentiful. Big days 

 at Blackgame are, alas ! few and far between now, there 



