20 THE COMPLETE SPORTSMAN 



shire, at the time, with the old Earl of Strath- 

 bungo and Gorbals, and on the twelfth of August 

 a large party of us were despatched to the hill- 

 side for a da}^ with the grouse. We had been 

 carefully warned to keep a good lookout for a 

 pet parrot, the property of Miss MacAlister of 

 Peebles, also a member of the house-party, 

 which had ungratefully escaped from its cage 

 while its owner was giving it a fresh piece of 

 groundsel on Sunday morning, and had never 

 returned. 



" Polly " was a valuable bird. The way in 

 which it wiped its beak upon the perch after 

 saying: *' 'Ave a drink, guvnor !" was (I am 

 told) uncannily human. And poor Miss Mac- 

 Alister, who had reared and cherished it ever 

 since it was an egg, was so greatly upset by her 

 loss that she even went so far as to offer a 

 reward of several bawbees for any information 

 that should lead to its recovery, dead or alive. 

 Hitherto, however, her efforts to stimulate the 

 natural cupidity of the Aberdeenshire crofters 

 had proved fruitless, and Polly still remained 

 at large. 



The twelfth was a hot, oppressive day, and 

 after a heavy luncheon in the heather I sat for 

 some time in my butt waiting for the grouse to 

 fly in my direction, and trying to elude the 

 unwelcome attentions of a host of midges. As 



