420 



SHOOTING. 



followed by a hot summer, the birds will be large, 

 and strong on the wing, at the commencement of 

 the shooting season. If the summer be very dry, 

 the young birds will be strong on the wing, by 

 reason of their having; to make Ions: flights to pro- 



O O O A 



cure water. 



After the early part of the season, grouse seldom 

 rise within shot in wet weather. They do not 

 always lie well immediately on the clearing up of 

 the weather, but require a succession of fine days. 



Grouse shooters should separate and range singly, 

 they should have no noisy attendants, nor any 

 dogs that require rating. The sport cannot be 

 carried on too quietly. If the shooter throws off 

 before eight o^clock, which it is not prudent to do 

 unless there are many guns on the moors, or foul 

 weather is expected in the afternoon, he should 

 run only one dog as long as the heather is wet, after- 

 wards two, and in the afternoon three dogs. In 

 wet weather one dog is quite sufficient. If hot 

 weather, we advise rest from eleven to two. If 

 the shooter have not exhausted himself during the 

 middle of the day, he will best fill his bag in the 

 afternoon ; he may not, indeed, then find so many, 

 but those he does find will be dispersed birds that 

 will almost lie to be trodden on. An old shooter 

 thus, on a dry afternoon following a wet morning, 

 will sometimes load himself or his attendant, after 

 the less experienced have left the moor disgusted, 

 with scarcely a bird in their possession. 



The flight of grouse is generally about half a 

 mile. A grouse will drop suddenly, when out of 



