OCT. BLACKCOCK — ROEBUCK. 39 



he jumps boldly up to me, knowing that he is 

 forgiven. 



Occasionally a blackcock flies past us. These 

 birds, a considerable number of which frequent this 

 wild region, sleep every night in the highest and 

 roughest heather they can find, in order to guard 

 against the attacks of the fox, who in his hunting 

 excursions seldom walks over that kind of ground, 

 preferring beaten tracks, or the edges of pools or 

 marshes, along which he can walk unheard and 

 easily, till his acute nose warns him of the vicinity 

 of some prey ; whereas the strong and large heather 

 in which blackcocks roost cannot be walked over 

 quietly and comfortably by an animal whose legs are 

 so short is those of a fox. The grey hens stand a 

 much w^orse chance. Led by their maternal instinct 

 to build their nests near the edges of the smoother 

 grounds, where their young, when hatched, can run 

 about, they are so much exposed to the attack of 

 the foxes, that scarcely one is left, and before long 

 the breed in this part of the country will be quite 

 worn out. 



Up to his knees in a swamp stands a beautiful 

 roebuck, feeding quickly and hungrily on the coarse 

 grasses which grow there ; whilst half way up the 

 brae, a doe and her fawn are nibbling the faded 

 leaves off a wild-rose bush. By a little manage- 



