THE GUN AT HOME AND ABROAD 
caillie was Logierait, Ballinluig, since, alas, blown down in the great gale 
of 1896. More than half way up the hill at the south end was a large rock 
which jutted out above the timber, and from this a splendid view could be 
obtained of the whole valley. Every Capercaillie that moved in this wood 
could be seen from this point of vantage, and I had many a good stand on 
this rock, when various tenants rented the shooting from the Duke of Atholl 
between 1887 and 1895. 
Instances are on record of a cock Capercaillie attacking a person who 
had come near his beat in the courting season, but I have never seen one 
attempt any resentment when winged, as I have several times heard imagin- 
ative shooters relate. A winged cock looks somewhat formidable when 
you go to pick it up and kill it, but beyond hissing and displaying the 
long feathers of the neck it will offer no resistance. 
There are few estates in the north where Capercaillie should be driven 
more than twice in the season, and a third time is only necessary when 
previous hunts have proved a failure. It must be remembered, however, 
that in some woods the birds are, to a certain extent, locally migra- 
tory, and sometimes take long flights, so that in one a wood may be 
deserted by them, and in the next a fine lot of birds may be seen. I 
remember being somewhat disappointed at finding no Capercaillie in 
two woods which were, as a rule, a certain find for them, and guests who 
were anxious to add them to their list of slain, departed with, I feel sure, 
the fixed idea that Murthly was not much of a place for Capercaillie. 
The day they left I went with the three keepers to drive one of these woods 
and shoot a certain roebuck whose head I coveted, and had crept quietly to 
my post when I heard a gentle cracking and flapping of some birds in a 
big Scotch fir about sixty yards to my front. Getting some obstacles in 
the way I crawled slowly forward and then saw that the cause of disturb- 
ance was a whole pack of Capercaillie on feed. I counted fifteen, and 
observed their movements for ten minutes before the beaters came up 
and put them to flight. These birds had probably just come in from the 
hills above, and although bred on the place, had certainly been absent 
for some time. In November, 1890, forty Capercaillie were killed at Foulis 
Wester, Strathearn, in one day. I was there at the regular shoot in 
November, 1891, and I think we killed four birds, nearly the whole of the 
stock having left during the previous spring. The sportsman must not 
expect to shoot Capercaillie as he does Pheasants, Partridges, or Grouse. 
They are still comparatively scarce, and he must count himself fortunate 
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