GROUSE AND BLACK-GAME SHOOTING. 



them come down to lower ground than they ever fre- 

 quent at other times. I have likewise heard it asserted 

 that grouse descend the hills to feed : this I also believe 

 to be erroneous; and have no doubt that, at feeding 

 times, they only move to the first short, sweet patch of 

 young heather, the tender tops of which form their chief 

 food during a great part of the year. The young packs 

 eat the seeds of the various grasses and weeds that grow 

 in the moors, and are particularly fond of sorrel. At 

 the hatching time the hen devours quantities of earth- 

 worms with great avidity. 



BLACK-GAME. 



Black-game do not pair like grouse ; and shooting the 

 hen * and young birds at the beginning of the season, is a 

 simple business. You have only to make yourself master 

 of the places they frequent. They may always be found 

 near a short thick rush, which can be easily seen on the 

 moor, the brown seeds of which form the principal food 

 of the young packs. When your dogs point near these 

 rushes, and especially if they " road," you may be almost 

 sure of black-game. The old hen generally rises first, 



* Many gentlemen are now beginning to shoot the hens, observing 

 the great increase of black-game and decrease of grouse in some dis - 

 tricts. This may in part be attributed to the advance of cultivation ; 

 but I cannot help thinking the black-game have a good share in driving 

 off the grouse as I know of one instance where the latter were killed 

 off, and the former again returned to their old haunts. I believe it 

 is also more than suspected that the capercailzie, wherever they are 

 introduced, have a great inclination to dispossess both. 



