44 The Scottish Naturalist 



quality which in these degenerate poaching days must materially 

 lessen the chances of their destruction. 



Mr Elwes, whose interesting notes are now before me, remarks 

 that as they are not included in the game laws, and can be shot 

 at any time of year, it is a favourite plan in some places to 

 reserve them until January and February, when with a few roe- 

 deer and woodcocks, they help to make up a very good day's 

 sport. As they keep mostly in high Scotch-fir woods, and are 

 very wary, it is necessary to drive them with beaters, and though 

 from their great size very easy to hit, a hard blow and large 

 shot are necessary to bring them down. They are said to drive 

 the black game very much away from the woods they frequent, 

 and in some places are not much liked on this account. * 



On consulting some of the older records respecting the oc- 

 currence of this "chieftain of the grouse tribe," I find that as 

 far back as the early part of the seventeenth century its head 

 quarters had been almost where they now are, and that it had 

 spread from this centre northwards. t In Inverness-shire it had 



* On one estate in Perthshire when Capercaillies are abundant, they are not 

 encouraged, I understand, because they frighten the Pheasants. Ed. Sc. Nat. 



fAs an exception to this rule it may be mentioned that the Rev. J. Headrick, 

 in his "View of Arran," published in 1807, remarks that the Capercaillie 

 "formerly abounded" in that island, but seemed tnen to be extirpated. I 

 have the satisfaction, however, of stating that the bird has been again introduced 

 into the island, and is now (1870)' observed in considerable numbers. From 

 this district eggs have been obtained by parties at a distance, and experiments 

 tried in Dumfriesshire and Galloway with a view to the re-estabhshment of the 

 bird in the firwoods of these counties. These experiments have been so far suc- 

 cessful that several broods have been dispersed throughout the south of Scotland, 

 but from the want of sufficient cover it is extremely doubtful if the species can 

 increase in that direction. Indeed, judging from newspaper records, it would 

 appear that in several instances the birds have wandered from their native 

 woods, and been destroyed by grouse shooters. In December, 1868, a fine 

 male, in beautiful plumage, was shot in Lanarkshire by Henry Lees. Esq., on 

 his moors at Auchengray, near Airdrie; and in the last week of November, 1869, 

 two specimens — both females— were killed in Galloway: one in the neighbour- 

 hood of Newton-Stewart, the other at Auchencairn, Kirkcudbrightshire. 



Again, writing from Dunipace, in Stirlingshire, Mr Harvie Brown says, 

 ''You will, I think, be glad to hear that the Capercaillie may now be considered 

 as fairly established in this part of the country. Last year several birds bred 

 in Torwood, and are now seen not only by the keepers but also by the gentle- 

 men who shoot over the covers. They are also not unfrequently seen in the 

 adjoining cover of Dalcswood, both males and females. They are not of course 



