i6 4 THE KEEPERS BOOK 



which the owner of a moor is himself generally ignorant 

 or careless, but every keeper who has at heart the 

 prosperity of the shooting under his care should see 

 that attention is paid to the matter. 



Of course it must be understood that this shooting 

 down of old cocks is no child's play. It requires both 

 patience and skill. In the majority of cases the birds 

 must be stalked. The stalker must go on to the moor 

 alone, his trained dog being well under control, and 

 behind him. He must proceed in absolute silence, tak- 

 ing advantage of any cover the moor may possess in 

 the shape of old dykes and ditches. He will find that 

 a well-choked barrel is best for his purpose, although 

 it may even be necessary to use a rifle. He should 

 never hesitate to kill the birds sitting. Some years 

 ago on a moor in Strathtay, the present writer 

 indulged in a series of these stalking expeditions, and 

 he was very content, after a day's careful working of 

 the ground, by creeping up burn sides, or crawling 

 alongside old dykes, or often by coming upon his bird 

 unexpectedly round a favourable knoll, to return at night 

 with two or three brace of old cocks. He counted such 

 a bag as of much more import to the future prosperity 

 of the moor than if he had returned with a larger bag 

 of younger birds. 



But even despite all these stalking expeditions 

 there is often left on the moor a large number of these 

 unwelcome " chronics." Where there is much hilly 

 ground, they are to be found on the tops in late autumn 



