THE RED GROUSK. 433 



A maid there i> in yoiider towc-r. 

 Who, ])pe])iii<j from her early bower, 

 Half slio->v<, like tliee, her ^ilnple -svile, 

 Her braided liair and morning smile. 

 The rarest things with wayward will, 

 Beneath the covert hide them still : 

 The rarest things to break of day. 

 Look shortly ftrth and shrink awav. 



A tleetiiig moment of delighl 

 I sunu'd me in her cheering sight. 

 As short I ween the time will be 

 That I shall parley hold with thee. 

 Tlu-ough Snowdon's mist red beams the dav, 

 The climbing herdboy chants his lay, 

 The gnat-tlies dance their sunny ring, — 

 Thou art already on the wing." * 



In the spring, the males resort to some particular elevated and open spots, where 

 they may be heard in the morning and evening inviting the females by their call, 

 displaying a variety of attitudes, and uttering, as 3Ir. Selby says, a crowing note 

 accompanied b)^ another sound, sunilar to that made by the whetting of a scythe. 

 This call is obeyed by the females, who do not long, however, engross the attentions of 

 the males. 



The females make a slight nest on the ground, frequently sheltered by some low thick 

 bush. Here they deposit from six to eight eggs, of a j'ellowish-white, si^otted and 

 speckled with orange-brown. The males are selfish creatures, leaving them not only to 

 the solitary task of incubation, but to that also of providing for the young. 



Considerable packs of these birds, composed as well of cocks as hens, are often to be 

 seen in the northern forests during tlie winter time. They are most commonly to be met 

 with near to the margins of lakes and rivers, where the birch usually grows in abtmdance ; 

 as it is from the buds of that tree the black-cock derives the principal part of his 

 subsistence during the inclement period of the j'ear. 



If the snow be loose and deep, this bird, lilte the capercaillie, often burrows beneath its 

 surface. In general he is entirel}' hidden from view, though sometimes his bill protrudes 

 above the snow : thus he is fully protected from the weather, let the temperature be 

 ever so severe. 



" In wandering through the forest," says Mr. Lloyd, " I have often come upon a pack of 

 black-cock thus hidden beneath the snow. When 1 have perhaps least expected it, one 

 of these birds has suddenly emerged from imder its covering, and flown up from almost 

 beneath my feet : this is generally the signal for others of the pack to take wing ; for, 

 though under the surface of the snow, they seem still to retain the faculty of hearing. In 

 this manner, I have not unfrequently shot black game. From certain indications found 

 in their seats, it would seem as if these birds remain in the snow for more than a 

 single day. 



" Though the black-cock is seldom in any degree perceptible when thus buried, a partial 

 aperture is to be seen in the snow. In such cases, it has not very unfrequently happened, 

 that on a person striking the surface of the snow -n-ith a stick, in the direction he has 

 reason to imagine the bird has taken, he has succeeded in killing it. 



" Many black-cock are shot in Sweden during the winter season in the following 

 manner : In such parts as are resorted to by these birds, an artificial black-cock, 

 composed usually of cloth, is affixed to a tree or fence in some conspicuous place. In the 



Joanna Baillie. 



