4 
BLACK GROUSE. 
<it tlicsG inGctings, tliis w£is in nil probnbility the spot to wliicli lie resorted to divert liiinself in tlie society 
of the lights of liis hnrem. In the first week in June 1877, while crossing the hills in one of the northern 
counties to inspect the haunts of some Golden Eagles, I met with an opportunity for observing a most 
singular assemblage, and remarked the comical and demure manner in which these strange birds comport 
themselves at their meetings at this season. Having learned from one of the keepers that Black Game 
frequently congregated on the moors a short distance on the right below the gully up which we Avere 
then making our way, I cautiously ascended the steep bank, and having reached the summit was enabled 
to overlook a ridge of the hill sloping doAvn towards the south-east. Though the ground Avas clothed 
with a luxuriant crop of grass, almost free from heather, Avith the exception of a few stunted roots, an 
oblon" space of some thirty or forty yards in length could clearly be discerned AAUcre the herbage was 
much Avorn and trampled doAvn. Around this bare spot some thirty or forty Blackcocks Avere draAvn up ; 
though tAVO or three Greyhens could be distinguished, it was plain that they Avere not present in any 
numbers. Not the slightest order could be observed in the manner in Avhich the party had arranged 
themselves ; three or four might be in close proximity, next a single bird or two, and then an inteiwal 
of several yards, the company being on the aaJioIc evenly distributed round the arena. Ecav, if any, 
shoAved the least signs of animation, the majority, indeed, exhibiting attitudes of repose or indifference ; 
tbe whole, however, Avithout an exception faced toAvards the open space, and I particularly remarked that 
the front line Avas most admirably kept. After AAmiting some time in hopes of observing a general 
movement, I withdrew Avithout causing the slightest alarm, and on returning an hour or so later discovered 
that little or no alteration in the general aspect of affairs had taken place, though a fcAV birds had strayed 
aAvay and scattered over the rough moorland stretching doAvn the mountain-side. Eor the best part of an 
hour I delayed our return journey ; at length, as there appeared little chance that any animation would noAV be 
infused into the inanimate group assembled, and daylight had already commenced to fade, I turned down hill, 
the sound of AAungs a few minutes later indicating the dissolution of the meeting. From the worn appearance of 
the turf it Avas evident that this Avas a regular and Avell-frequented place of resort ; that the spirit did not move 
those Avho had collected to more doughty deeds on this occasion may be accounted for by the season of the 
year. It was a someAvhat singular fact that Avithin half a mile or so of this spot there was a favourite resting- 
place of the Golden Eagle ; that these birds also hunted for prey over the adjacent ground I had many 
opportunities for observing *. 
During the summer of 1868 I detected by chance the nest of a Greyhen containing three fresh eggs on a 
flat stretch of open moorland at least a mile and a half from the nearest cover; and, strange to say, it was Avithin 
a fcAv feet of the cradle of a Ilen-IIarrier in Avhich the eggs Avere then on the point of hatching. As a rule these 
birds, according to my OAvn experience, appear to prefer a spot in the vicinity of some shelter on which to rear 
their young. In several of the northern counties of the Highlands I have come across their nests Avithin a short 
distance of cither the stunted birch or pine woods, or among the outlying bushes that grow here and there in 
patches on the moors ; in Perthshire I repeatedly found them in the groves of beech near the banks of the 
Lyon. Where more coAcr is not to be obtained a rough and sloping bank rather than a stretch of flat moor 
is for the most part selected. 
Black Game CAunce a great partiality for grain ; at times they settle in large numbers on the stocks, causing 
no small amount of damage Avhen, as is often the case in the more remote glens, it is AA'^ell on into AAonter 
before the pieces of cultivated land are cleared of the crop. Though I have ncA^er Avitnessed tliis method of 
poaching, I learned from residents in more than one locality that numbers of birds are at times secured by 
snares set on the stocks ; this is doubtless an exceedingly easy means of capture unless an efficient AA'atch is 
kept. Some years back, Avhilc shooting in the Avest of Perthshire, I heard an amusing account of the manner 
* This haunt of the Eagles is clescrihed in the last paragraph on page 3 of the Golden Eagle. 
