428 SHOOTING. 



obvious difference between the two year old birds 

 and the one, the latter are sometimes taken for 

 young birds, but they may be known by the under 

 beak being strong enough to support the weight of 

 the body. The belly of the cock grouse is nearly 

 black, each feather being tipped or barred with 

 white; the white tips or bars are smaller on an 

 old bird than on a young one. The breast and 

 belly of the hen is a dark chocolate colour. Until 

 November or December, young grouse, black-game, 

 partridges, and pheasants, may be distinguished 

 from old ones by the lower beak not being strong 

 enough to bear the weight of their bodies. The 

 lower beak of an old partridge is strong enough to 

 sustain the weight of a brace of birds ; but a young 

 bird cannot be raised by the lower beak without 

 the lower beak bending under the weight. The 

 head of a buck hare is larger, and the neck and 

 ears are shorter than of a doe. Old hares may be 

 distinguished from full grown young hares by the 

 strength of their jaw-bones, or the closeness of the 

 knee joint of the fore-legs. 



In the month of September, the broods of red 

 grouse begin to assemble together, and remain in 

 large companies until the end of the season. They 

 are then said to be packed. In a very hot and 

 forward season, they may sometimes be seen in 

 packs on the 1 2th of August, but that rarely oc- 

 curs. If a late season, and the birds are not much 

 disturbed, they will not pack until October. A 

 pack varies in number from twenty to two or three 

 hundred, or even more. When packed, the shooter 



