CAPERCAILZIE. 279 



but when, at an after period, he is joined by the hens, they 

 act the part of his guardian angels. On the least appearance 

 of peril, they, to put him on his guard, utter a peculiar kind of 

 cackle, and should not this suffice to attract his attention, one 

 or other of them will straightways fly past the tree on which he 

 is perched, and at times so near to him as apparently to strike 

 him with the tip of her wing, which unmistakable hint he cannot 

 but comprehend, and, as a consequence, moves off at once 

 ' in the wake ' of his kind monitress. 



" Happily but few hens, comparatively speaking, are shot at 

 the Lek-stiiiie, partly because they are more wary than the cock, 

 but chiefly, I take it, owing to the fowler having other and 

 better game in view. Indeed, were a proportionate slaughter 

 to take place amongst them, the breed, in some parts of Scan- 

 dinavia, must soon become extinct. As it is, the cocks are so 

 ruthlessly shot down during the pairing season that a large 

 portion of hens are unable to find mates ; and hence the 

 number of barren birds (^Gall-Honor) one meets with in the 

 forest. Were people to refrain from killing the cocks until the 

 spring is well advanced, and pairing for the most part over, no 

 great harm would be done, and they still might have ample 

 amusement ; for the cocks, especially the young ones, continue, 

 as said, to spel until the middle of May, or it may be even 

 longer. 



" The number of Capercali — of cock?, I speak — that a man 

 may thus kill at the Lek-stdlle within a given time depends 

 greatly on circumstances. If, for instance, the weather be 

 boisterous, or there be a crust on the snow, which in more 

 northern parts of Scandinavia often remains on the ground 

 until late in the spring, it may happen that even the most 

 experienced chasseur will hardly kill a single bird in a week ; 

 but under favourable circumstances, on the contrary, a good 

 deal may be done. I, myself, have known more than one man 

 to shoot from five to six of these birds in the course of the 

 morning and evening of the same day, but one or two is a 

 more usual number. A peasant in the interior, however, who 

 knows what he is about, and devotes much of his time to the 

 purpose as many do, will probably kill from fifteen to tw^enty 

 cocks during the spring. I was, indeed, assured by an 

 acquaintance of mine, who resided in the heart of Wermeland 



