"No, Duncan, no; the bird is yours. You fired first."
"Only at random, brother. But come, let us look at him. What a splendid creature! Do you know, Conal, I could almost cry for having killed him."
"Oh! so could I, Duncan, for that matter, but the capercailzie[1] is game, mind, and won't father be pleased. Why do they call it a wild turkey?"
[1] The letter "z" not pronounced in Scotch.
"Because it isn't a turkey. That is quite sufficient reason for a gamekeeper. The capercailzie is the biggest grouse there is, you know, and sometimes weighs very many pounds."
"And didn't we find the nest of one in a spruce tree last spring."
"Ay, and six eggs that we didn't touch; and I've never put any faith again in that ignoramus of a book, that would have us believe the birds always build on the bare ground."
"Written by an Englishman, no doubt, Duncan, who had never placed a foot on our native heath. But now let us get back to breakfast. I wonder where our little sister Flora is."
"I heard her gun about ten minutes ago; she can't be far off. Besides Viking is with her, so she is safe enough. Give the curlew's scream and she'll soon appear."
"Like the wild scream of the curlew,
From crag to crag the signal flew."