SHOOTING THE GROUSE 



well as very accomplished in their flight, and if they 

 catch sight of you will swing away and often turn alto- 

 gether from the line. These are exactly those which 

 you should be most desirous to kill, and a well-made 

 and commodious butt, in which you can keep well 

 out of sight, is really most essential in the more remote 

 drives, where birds are few and keen, than anywhere. 

 Yet you often see in Scotland the error committed of 

 taking less trouble over these than over the lines near 

 the lodge and on lower ground, where the driving 

 is easier. The second difficulty I named above 

 viz. the opposition or unwillingness of many Scotch 

 keepers has to be reckoned with in this department. 

 They must be taught that these things are not fancies, 

 nor mere aids to making the sport easy or luxurious, 

 but absolute essentials of a successful drive, while the 

 proper manner of carrying them out is the result of 

 the experience of fifty or sixty years on the English 

 moors. 



It is the same with the manner of conducting the 

 drive. Many of my readers must have noticed how 

 impossible it appears to persuade a line of Scotch 

 drivers to preserve the proper horseshoe or half-moon 

 shape, or that their flanks are really the most import- 

 ant parts of their force. Instead of getting well round 

 the ground, and no driver showing himself or beginning 



