4 GAME-BIRDS 



beini; L^enerally reddish buff marked with tlccks and blotches of reddish 

 brown. From ci<;ht to twelve seems to be the normal number in a 

 clutch. 



As already mentioned, the capercaillie is essentially a bird of the 

 pine-forests, and feeds on the leaves and )-oung shoots of the Scotch 

 fir. It is a polygamous bird, and at certain seasons of the \-ear the 

 cocks take up positions on tall pines and attract around them a number 

 of hens, before whom they make a nuptial display, known in Scandinavia 

 as the s{>el. During the breeding-season frequent contests take place 

 between rival cocks. Capercaillie cocks vary in weight from lo to 

 as much as 13, or even 16 or 17 lbs., southern Sweden producing 

 some of the heaviest birds, while those introduced into Scotland appear 

 to be small. From 5 to 6 lbs. is the weight of a hen. Capercaillie- 

 shooting lasts from August 10 till December 20. 



Blflpkpoek There appears to be some degree of uncertainty 

 ^Tetrao tetrix) whether the name " grouse " was original)}- the 

 designation of this species or of Lagopus scoticiis. 

 If, however, it really means, as seems probable, the speckled or 

 mottled bird, there can be little doubt that it proj)crl\' pertains to 

 the latter ; and since, in an\' case, it has been accepted for generations 

 as the name of that species, it is best to follow that usage. Moreover, 

 as the present species is a relative of the capercaillie rather than of 

 the grouse and ptarmigan, it seems preferable that it should be called 

 the blackcock rather than black grouse, the designation " black game " 

 not being by any means a good specific title. If it be objected that 

 in taking the designation of the male (the female being known as the 

 greyhen) as the title of the species we are departing from normal 

 usage, the case of the robin, or robin redbreast, may be cited in justi- 

 fication. The fact of the male and female in this particular species 

 having separate designations is doubtless due to the extraordinary 

 difference in the plumage of the two sexes — a difference altogether 

 unsurpassed among the larger British birds, if not indeed among all the 

 birds of our islands. The fact that the tail of the male is of the well- 

 known lyrate shape, instead of wedge-like, has been held to justify the 

 .separation of the blackcock as a genus apart from the capercaillie 

 under the designation Lyriiriis tetrix. Such refinements in classifica- 

 tion .seem, however, uncalled for. In this case the tail of the greyhen, 

 although distinctly notched, does not depart far from the capercaillie 

 type ; and the blackcock merely shows an ultra-specialisation in this 

 respect, as well as in colour, in the male ; such specialisation, so far 



