130 THE SHOOTER'S GUIDE. 



Of all shooting, none is so laborious, either for 

 man or dog, as that of grouse ; the sportsman ought, 

 therefore, to be provided with plenty of dogs ; and 

 one brace of good ones at a time will be found suffi- 

 cient to be properly attended to. Three brace of 

 dogs are quite sufficient ; and indeed two brace, pro- 

 perly managed, will be found to afford plenty of di- 

 version. By allowing your first couple of dogs to 

 hunt only half the day, they will be sufficiently re- 

 freshed to hunt the next morning. 



Burning heath on the mountains, as it is done 

 chiefly in the spring, is very destructive to grouse : for 

 by this means numbers of nests are destroyed. There 

 is an act of parliament against it ; yet the practice is 

 winked at, on account of the benefit derived there- 

 from by the owner of the mountain. The burnt 

 heath manures the ground, arid causes grass to spring. 

 Care, however, should be taken in burning ; as, in a 

 dry season, seconded by a high wind, it has not only 

 set the mountain in a blaze, but communicated the 

 flames to several adjoining woods : a circumstance 

 of this description happened a few years ago. 



Grouse are very difficult to be netted, owing to the 



straggling manner in which they lie, and their scat- 



. K'ring on the approach of the sportsman, or the least 



noise. Two or three brace are the most that can be 



taken in this way, and very seldom, so many. 



With respect to black grouse, or, as they are called 

 in Scotland, black cocks or black game, they are 

 found on the edges of the moors, and the old cock 



