142 SHOOTING THE GROUSE 



ahead of the centre. All the birds in this corrie if 

 flushed by men behind them will hang right along 

 under the ridge in the shelter, describing a curve 

 which the force of the wind will impose upon them, 

 and coming well over the guns in order to reach the 

 alighting ground they make for beyond the line of 

 butts. 



Now, if this drive be mismanaged in the archaic 

 manner I alluded to before that is, with all the drivers 

 in a straight line nearly every bird in it will be lost, 

 except a few lying at the bottom of the corrie, who may, 

 if flushed luckily, hang on under the ridge and come to 

 the upper guns. But most of them will never come 

 to the guns at all ; those in the upper part of the 

 corrie will, many of them, slip out at the head, and go 

 up wind into the next valley or shelter. Those lower 

 down will, most of them, feeling the force of the wind 

 directly they rise, bear away over the burn and either 

 remain on the other side beyond the stone wall, or 

 curve in again if this ground is not moorland towards 

 the alighting ground beyond the line of guns, without 

 giving a shot. Many others, hearing the guns in 

 front, and seeing nothing to stop them on the burn- 

 side, will rise in the wind and go clean back towards 

 the point B. The drive will consequently be an utter 

 failure. 



