112 BRITAIN'S BIRDS AND THEIR NESTS. 



spring, but Blackcocks of the same age are usually 

 defeated and driven off by older birds. During the season 

 of the ' lek ' or ' spel ' the Blackcock is very pugnacious, 

 and indulges in furious combats, frequently joined in by 

 several birds. ' Although destitute of spurs, it fights in 

 the same manner as the domestic cock, lowering its head, 

 erecting and spreading its tail, and leaping against its 

 adversary, endeavouring to drive him off and if possible 

 tear him to pieces. The combats, however, are less bloody 

 than those of our game-cocks, although they are engaged 

 in with so much earnestness that an unscrupulous fowler 

 might easily carry destruction among the gallants. A 

 cock who has beaten off his opponents from his favourite 

 station betakes himself to it morning and evening, and 

 struts in a pompous manner, with spread tail, and 

 stiffened wings rustling against the ground, calls aloud 

 with a harsh grating voice, and invites the neighbouring 

 females, or rather challenges those of his own sex within 

 hearing to come forward and dispute his claims to the 

 favour of his elect brides. When this season of excite- 

 ment is over, the males, forgetting their animosities, 

 meet together, and endeavour to recruit their diminished 

 energies by following their ordinary occupations in peace.' 

 The great Scottish ornithologist Macgillivray, who penned 

 the above description three-quarters of a century ago, 

 compared this friendly association of the males at times 

 when they were not engaged in fighting furiously, with 

 the similar habits of some polygamous mammals, such as 

 Red-Deer. The Blackcock has also a short period of 

 ' spel ^ in autumn. 



The nest is a hollow on the ground, lined with leaves 

 or similar material. In this from six to ten or more 

 eggs are deposited. They have orange-brown spots on a 

 brownish-yellow ground. The nestlings are covered with 



