CHAP, in.] GROUSE. 25 



CHAPTER III. 



Grouse's Nest Partridge Nest Grouse-shooting Marten Cat Witch : 

 Death of Stags Snaring Grouse lilack Game: Battles of Hybrid 

 Bird Ptarmigan-shooting Mist on the Mountain Stag Unsuccessful 

 Stalking Death of Eagle. 



I FOUND the nest of a grouse with eight eggs, or rather egg- 

 shells, within two hundred yards of a small farm-house on a part 

 of my shooting-ground, where there is a mere strip of heather 

 surrounded by cultivated fields, and on a spot particularly in- 

 fested by colley-dogs, as well as by herd-boys, et id gcmis omne. 

 But the poor bird, although so surrounded by enemies, had 

 managed to hatch and lead away her brood in safety. I saw 

 them frequently afterwards, and they all came to maturity. 

 How many survived the shooting-season I do not know, but the 

 covey numbered eight birds far on in October. If the parent 

 bird had selected her nesting-place for beauty of prospect, she 

 could not have pitched upon a lovelier spot. The nest was on a 

 little mound where I always stop, when walking in that direction, 

 to admire the extensive and varied view the Bay of Findhorn 

 and the sand-hills, the Moray Firth, with the entrance to the 

 Cromarty Bay, and the bold rocky headlands, backed by the 

 mountains of Ross-shire. Sutherland, Caithness, Inverness, and 

 Ross-shire are all seen from this spot ; whilst the rich plains 

 of Moray, dotted with timber, and intersected by the winding 

 stream of the Findhorn, with the woods of Altyre, Darnaway, 

 and Brodie, form a nearer picture. 



It is a curious fact, but one which I have often observed, that 

 dogs frequently pass close to the nest of grouse, partridge, or 

 other game, without scenting the hen bird as she sits on her eggs. 

 I knew this year of a partridge's nest which was placed close to 

 a narrow footpath near my house ; and although not only my 

 people, but all my dosrs. were constantly passing within a foot 



