26 GBOUSE SHOOTING. 



cover, and where the heath has been burnt; but 

 where patches of old and young heather lie scattered 

 around, together with mossy rivulets and peat-pools 

 filled with water, look out for a point. In the middle 

 of the day, particularly when the weather is sultry, 

 grouse lie without moving, and are, consequently, 

 very difficult to find. Storms or high winds make 

 them very wild ; the best way to approach them then 

 is from below; they cannot see you so plainly as 

 when descending from ground above them. In rain 

 it is next to impossible to fall in with them, beside it 

 being very questionable fun to range up to the loins in 

 a sort of vegetable ocean ; they wont " road" an inch, 

 having, like yourself, no taste for wandering in bowers 

 as moist as the coral gardens of the Nereides, and take 

 wing before you are within bomb practice range. 



You must not beat over the same line too often ; 

 if constrained ever so much for want of room, not 

 more than twice a week. When disturbed, or broken, 

 grouse do not pack together again sometimes for a 

 day or two. These birds are said, by some writers, 

 to change their lying according to the state of the 

 weather. This is not true as regard localities, 

 but only in reference to haunts. As shelter from 

 strong sunshine, tempest, or rain, they resort to the 

 lee of a hill, or betake them to strong heather, but 

 only where such come within scope of their ordinary 

 flight. Neither do they wander far to feed. They 

 will merely make to the nearest patch of young 

 heather, the fresh tops of which constitute their food, 



