GROUSE SHOOTING. 423 



Grouse do not always rise in the same manner. 

 They either mount, like pheasants, about five yards 

 high, and then fly off; or else they skim along 

 quietly, almost touching the ground. When the 

 grouse flies low, its flight is somewhat like that 

 of the blackbird. When it rises in the manner of a 

 pheasant, the best time to fire at it is immediately 

 as it arrives at its height, just as it is about to 

 make off" ; at that point of time when it has per- 

 formed its vertical and is commencing its horizontal 

 flight. To shoot sooner, unless the aim be taken 

 above the bird, is to lose a chance. But, when the 

 grouse scarcely rises out of the heather, and glides 

 away from the shooter, as a blackbird flies, no 

 time is to be lost, or it will be out of reach. It is 

 generally when the shooter is near birds as they 

 rise, that they mount like pheasants ; and when 

 he is at a distance from them as they rise, that 

 they fly off" low. When they rise perpendicularly, 

 they make some noise with their wings, and the 

 cock sometimes crows, and the hen cackles. On the 

 contrary, when they flit away, scarcely clearing the 

 heath-peeps, they make no noise whatever. When 

 grouse are wild and fly low, it is quite requisite to 

 keep a constant look-out, or they will gain a dozen 

 yards before they are seen ! Their being the same 

 colour as the heather favours their escape. 



It is usual for one party of sportsmen to give 

 another party notice of the approach of birds by 

 crying "mark!" The shooters whom the birds 

 approach stand still, and the birds will not veer 

 from their intended course ; the birds are suffered 



