2 
llED GROUSE. 
explanation, was, however, never repeated. Having knocked down a noisy old cock as he rose from a 
high crag of rock on to a piece of swampy ground, with pools of partially frozen water, I left the cart in 
charge of the groom and proceeded to search for the bird myself. !Ncll, “uho was as usual located in the back 
compartment, looked wistfully after me and gave vent to audible signs of grief on being left behind ; as she 
happened, however, to l)e suffering from an injured foot, I would not run the risk of working her over the 
hard ground unless her services were absolutely necessary. Having reached the spot where the bird had 
been marked, he was found at once on a hare patch of peat ; and on returning to the conveyance, I pitched 
him on to the floor of the compartment, remarking — “Nell, here’s a nice hot Grouse for your breakfast,” 
never, of course, imagining that she would take me at my word. A quarter of a mile or more was then 
passed over before another shot was obtained ; again I alighted to retrieve the bird, and on returning was 
much surprised to diseover that the first had entirely vanished, with the exception of the gall and a few 
otlicr portions of the intestines usually rtyected by predatory animals. Nell appeared by no means disconcerted 
in consequence of her depravity, and her tail was heard beating loudly against the sideboard, giving evidence 
of her satisfaction at my approach. In order to ascertain the manner in which she would conduct herself 
for the remainder of the drive, I took not the slightest notice of the disappearance of the bird; and though 
four or five brace more were killed before returning to the lodge, the Avhole were found intact at the end of 
our journey. So fearless do the old cock Grouse become if unmolested, that shortly after daybreak I have 
repeatedly seen one or two alight and crow on the thatched roof of a summer-house in the garden adjoining 
the lodge of Innerwick in Glenlyon, also on the walls surrounding the buildings, and on two or three 
occasions on the top of a barrel that formed the kennel of a Tweedside retriever, taking not the slightest 
notice of, and utterly disregarded by, the lawful occupant. 
Care and attention is always necessary when placing out traps on the moors, or much injury may be 
inflicted on the flocks : neglect to take proper precautions invariably causes ill feeling in the district, 
and no amount of watching can make up for or avert the spite of a shepherd who fancies himself aggrieved. 
During the years I was killing down the vermin on the Innerwick moors in the west of Perthshire, where 
the hills were entirely under sheep, none were taken in the traps, sites for the baits being invariably 
chosen on mossy spits or tiny islets in the springs as well as on the summits of the “ false men ” or cairns of 
stone built up as landmarks on conspicuous ridges of the hills. lYhile endeavouring to obtain siieciraens of 
Eagles in the Northern Highlands and also among the Western Islands, at least ten or twelve ewes and lambs 
must have come to grief; the land on which the traps were set being for the most part deer-forests, the spots 
were less carefully chosen, and the sheep suffered in consequence. It was ascertained, however, in every 
instance that they either belonged to the crofters who owned small patches on the low ground, or were 
those that had strayed from large farms many miles across the hills, neither of Avhich were to be looked 
for in that part of the country. As a rule, little or no injury had been inflicted on the captives, and when 
released they at once made tracks with most vigorous bounds towards their native haunts. A piteous 
spectacle, however, was observed one morning in the Island of Lewis on visiting a trap set several miles 
from where sheep were supposed to feed. A shaggy-coated Highland ewe was lying dead, suffocated in the 
spongy moss into which she bad fallen in her efforts to escape, while her lamb, apparently utterly regardless of 
the fate that had befallen its dam, was sleeping peacefully curled up on her back. Highland sheep are 
much addicted to stray long distances, and while in quest of fresh grass, when food is searce, frequently 
make their way to apparently inaccessible spots in the face of the cliffs, from which they are utterly 
unable to return. IMany also follow the ebb of the salt water along the shores of the loch-side to nibble at 
the seaweed, and wholly oblivious of the fact that safety can only be obtained by returning tlie same way as 
they came, stolidly face the rising swell of the flowing tide till swept away and drowned. While crossing 
Loch Shell on the day following that on which the dead ewe and lamb Avere discovered, I met with three 
