26 WILD SPORTS OF THE HIGHLANDS. ToHap. 111. 
and a half of the bird, they never found her out, and she hatched 
her brood in safety. 
Grouse generally make their nest in a high tuft of heather. 
The eggs are peculiarly beautiful and game-like, of a rich brown 
colour, spotted closely with black. Although in some peculiarly 
early seasons, the young birds are full grown by the 12th of 
August, in general five birds out of six which are killed on that 
day are only half come to their strength and beauty. The 20th 
of the month would be a much better day on which to commence 
their legal persecution. In October there is not a more beautiful 
bird in our island ; and in January a cock grouse is one of the 
most superb fellows in the world, as he struts about fearlessly 
with his mate, his bright red comb erected above his eyes, and 
his rich dark-brown plumage shining in the sun. Unluckily, 
they are more easily killed at this time of the year than at any 
other ; and I have been assurea that a ready market is found for 
them not only in January, but to the end of February, though 
in fine seasons they begin to nest very early in March. Hardy 
must the grouse be, and prolific beyond calculation, to supply 
the numbers that are yearly killed, legally and illegally. Vermin, 
however, are their worst enemies; and where the ground is kept 
clear of all their winged and four-footed destroyers, no shooting 
seems to reduce their numbers. 
I cannot say that my taste leads me to rejoice in the slaughter 
of a large bag of grouse in one day. I have no ambition to see 
my name in the county newspapers as having bagged my seventy 
brace of grouse, in a certain number of hours, on such and such 
a hill. I have much more satisfaction in killing a moderate 
quantity of birds, in a wild and varied range of hill, with my 
single brace of dogs, and wandering in any direction that fancy 
leads me, than in having my day’s beat laid out for me, witn 
relays of dogs and keepers, and all the means of killing the grouse 
on easy walking ground, where they are so numerous that one 
has only to load and fire. In the latter case, I generally find 
myself straying off in pursuit of some teal or snipe, to the neglect 
of the grouse, and the disgust of the keeper, who may think his 
dignity compromised by attending a sportsman who returns with 
less than fifty brace. Nothing is so easy to shoot as a grouse, 
when they are tolerably tame; and with a little chcice of his 
