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SOME RECOLLECTIONS OF THE "TWELFTH." 



WHAT is the meaning of the word "wild" as applied to 

 Grouse in August ? It is often difficult to understand what de- 

 gree of wildness is meant, especially when, as one often reads, 

 the expression is appended to a report of perhaps several hun- 

 dred birds having been shot. Perhaps it is merely a fagon de 

 parler, a form of words to magnify the exploits or gratify the 

 vanity of the shooters. Obviously, when grouse are really 

 wild, they cannot be killed in hundreds over dogs or otherwise 

 (except by driving). By comparison with the numbers of 

 people who flock to the moors in August, those who follow 

 the sport of grouse- shooting throughout the season are very 

 few ; but it is the latter alone who really know what "wildness" 

 means. Then, in late autumn and winter, it really means 

 that in the contest " Vir v.Tetrao," the former is nowhere, is 

 outmatched. In keenness of sight and power of locomotion, 

 in ceaseless vigilance, he must acknowledge his inferiority. 

 On the open fell in November man is comparatively powerless ; 

 it is only by his ability to work out schemes of stealth or 

 strategy that he can bring himself into the same acre with 

 his noble quarry. 



Yet in the August reports it has become almost a set phrase, 

 "birds wild and strong on the wing," a common affix being 

 " scent very bad." Now, this (the former) must very often 

 simply mean that the young grouse are normally well-grown, 

 and rise boldly at perhaps thirty or forty yards, instead of 

 " cheepers," which can be poked up from under a dog's nose. 

 Young grouse hatched at an average date, say mid-May, 

 are by the " Twelfth " full three months old, and in the 

 ordinary course of nature are nearly full-grown, and have 

 their powers largely developed. Such birds have cast the 



