BLACKCOCK SHOOTING 



It is not every Grouse moor that is favoured with 

 the presence of Blackgame. Much depends upon 

 the situation, the proximity of larch and birch 

 plantations in which to roost, and a sufficient extent 

 of low-lying moist ground, devoid of heather, but 

 abounding in rushes, whereon the Blackgame find 

 acceptable food. In spring they feed much on the 

 cotton grass {Eriophorum vaginatum) and the buds 

 of the bog myrtle ; in summer, heather tops, pine 

 leaves and shoots ; in autumn, acorns, oats, seeds of 

 the rush (commonly called "sprit"), and berries of 

 Vaccinium myrtillus ; in winter, the catkins of the 

 alder and berries of the rowan tree and juniper. 

 From this it will be seen that Grouse and Blackgame 

 do not feed exactly on the same kind of food, 

 although in summer they may both be seen picking 

 at the heather tops, and in autumn both visit the 

 oat stubbles, and alight in company upon the stooks 

 to pluck the ripening grain. 



It has been asserted by some writers — for 

 example, by Robert Gray, in his Birds of the West 

 of Scotland — that Blackgame drive away the Grouse. 

 I have never had any satisfactory proof of this. 

 Having observed both species together on the 

 oatfields, and seen them come over the guns 



