1>6 WILD SPORTS OF THE HIGHLANDS. [CHAP. in. 



and a half of the bird, they never found her out, and she hatched 

 her brood in safety. 



Grouse generally make their nest in a high tuft of heather. 

 The eggs are peculiarly beautiful and game-like, of a rich brown 

 colour, spotted closely with black. Although in some peculiarly 

 early seasons, the young birds are full grown by the 12th of 

 August, in general five birds out of six which are killed on that 

 day are only half come to their strength and beauty. The 20th 

 of the month would be a much better day on which to commence 

 their legal persecution. In October there is not a more beautiful 

 bird in our island ; and in January a cock grouse is one of the 

 most superb fellows in the world, as he struts about fearlessly 

 with his mate, his bright red comb erected above his eyes, and 

 his rich dark-brown plumage shining in the sun. Unluckily, 

 they are more easily killed at this time of the year than at any 

 other ; and I have been assured tnat a ready market is found for 

 them not only in January, but to the end of February, though 

 in fine seasons they begin to nest very early in March. Hardy 

 must the grouse be, and prolific beyond calculation, to supply 

 the numbers that are yearly killed, legally and illegally. Vermin, 

 however, are their worst enemies ; and where the ground is kept 

 clear of all their winged and four-footed destroyers, no shooting 

 seems to reduce their numbers. 



I cannot say that my taste leads me to rejoice in the slaughter 

 of a large bag of grouse in one day. I have no ambition to see 

 my name in the county newspapers as having bagged my seventy 

 brace of grouse, in a certain number of hours, on such and such 

 a hill. I have much more satisfaction in killing a moderate 

 quantity of birds, in a wild and varied range of hill, with my 

 single brace of dogs, and wandering in any direction that, fancy 

 leads me, than in having my day's beat laid out for me, witn 

 relays of dogs and keepers, and all the means of killing the grouse 

 on easy walking ground, where they are so numerous that one 

 has only to load and fire. In the latter case, I generally find 

 myself straying off in pursuit of some teal or snipe, to the neglect 

 of the grouse, and the disgust of the keeper, who may think his 

 dignity compromised by attending a sportsman who returns with 

 less than fifty brace. Nothing is so easy to shoot as a grouse, 

 when they are tolerably tame ; and with a little choice of his 



