TETRAONIDiE. 385 



attends entirely to the hatching of the young. They 

 reside principally on the ground during summer, 

 but in the winter they seek the trees, whereon they 

 chiefly find their food, which consists of seeds and 

 berries of alpine plants and trees, and the tender 

 shoots of pines, firs, and birch, &c. They often 

 visit arable lands in the vicinity of their retreats, 

 and even approach the habitations of man during 

 winter, sharing in the food of the poultry. The 

 nest is composed of a few stalks arranged on the 

 ground in marshy places, and concealed by a tuft of 

 tall grass or a low bush. The female deposits from 

 six to ten or fifteen egg*s. 



The type of this sub-family is — 



The Black Grouse or Black Cock {Tetrao Tetrix), still 

 met with in the mountamous districts of the North of 

 England, and pretty abundantly in those of Scotland. It 

 also occurs commonly in the North, and in the mountams 

 of the South of Europe. The bases of the hills m heathy 

 and mountainous districts, which are covered with a 

 natural growth of birch, alder, and willow, and intersected 

 by morasses clothed with long coarse herbage, are situa- 

 tions best suited to the habits of these birds, as are also 

 the deep and wooded glens so frequently occurring in such 

 extensive w^astes. 



Duriag the months of autumn and winter the males 

 associate and live in flocks, but separate in March or 

 April, and each individual choo>;es some particular station 

 from which he drives all intruders, and for the possession 

 of which, w^ien the birds are numerous, desperate con- 

 flicts often take place. At this station he posts himself 

 early every morning and evening during the pairing 

 season, repeating his call of invitation, and displaying a 

 gi'eat variety of attitudes, not unlike those of a turkey- 

 cock, accompanied by a crowing note, and by another 

 similar to the noise made by whetting a scythe. At this 

 season his plumage exhibits the richest glosses, and the 

 red skin of his eyebrows assumes a superior intensity of 

 colour. The pairing season over, animosity ceases, and 

 the male birds again associate and live harmoniously 



