28 VARIETIES OF SHOOTING. 



be desirable to beat towards the centre of the moor, so as to 

 avoid driving the game off it, and for this purpose the ex- 

 perienced hand begins from the leeward side, so as to beat up 

 wind, and towards the middle of his moor. Having com- 

 menced at eight or nine o'clock, by one or two the whole of 

 that side will have been beaten ; for when the grouse are as 

 numerous as they ought to be early in the season, it will 

 scarcely answer to follow up each pack, as must be done 

 later on in the year. At the same time the centre of the 

 moor will have been filled with the disturbed coveys, many 

 of which are more or less scattered. Then, with a careful 

 brace of dogs, he must proceed to beat this ground systema- 

 tically, which will probably occupy the shooter till the end 

 of the day ; but on no account should he work on farther, 

 towards the windward side of his moor, for fear of sending 

 his birds off it and into another. Beyond these simple 

 directions, experience must be the guide in conducting the 

 beat, and on hilly ground no one but a person accustomed 

 to that particular locality can give useful advice. Generally 

 speaking, grouse dislike leaving their own hill, and will fly 

 round and round its sides if they are followed up, just 

 putting the brow between them and their persecutor. 

 Later on in the season they take long flights, either from 

 hill to hill, or from the high ground to the low, but in 

 August they do not often go so far in their flight. Of course, 

 bare ground without covert of any kind will very rarely hold 

 game, and when this occurs it may be left untried, as may 

 freshly burnt heather, which is never the haunt of grouse 

 by any chance. On the other hand, -when he falls in with 

 patches of heather of all ages, interspersed with green moss 

 and bogs, with here and there a small pool of water, the sports- 

 man may be in constant expectation of a point. In hot 

 weather, during the middle of the day, grouse lie close, and 

 it requires a good nose in the dog which finds them. In 

 wet weather 110 sport can be obtained, the birds being in 

 sheltered situations, where they are with difficulty found. So 

 also in very windy weather they are so wild that they rarely 

 suffer an approach, but get up out of shot, and are off to the 

 next hill side. 



is the plan to be pursued early in t/ie season, but, later 



