THE BLACK GROUSE. 



Alone on English moor's I've seen the Black Cock stray, 

 Sounding his earnest love-note on the air. 



— Anon. 



ELL known as the Black 

 Cock is supposed to be, 

 we fancy few of our read- 

 ers have ever seen a spec- 

 imen. It is a native of the more 

 southern countries of Europe, and still 

 survives in many portions of the British 

 Islands, especially those localities 

 where the pine woods and heaths afford 

 it shelter, and it is not driven away by 

 the presence of human habitation. 



The male bird is known to resort at 

 the beginning of the nesting season to 

 some open spot, where he utters his 

 love calls, and displays his new dress 

 to the greatest advantage, for the pur- 

 pose of attracting as many females as 

 may be willing to consort with him. 

 His note when thus engaged is loud 

 and resonant, and can be heard at a 

 considerable distance. This crowing 

 sound is accompanied by a harsh, 

 grating, stridulous kind of cry which 

 has been compared to the noise pro- 

 duced by whetting a scythe. The 

 Black Cock does not pair, but leaves 

 his numerous mates to the duties of 

 maternity and follows his own desires 

 while they prepare their nests, lay 

 their eggs, hatch them, and bring up 

 the young. The mother bird, how- 

 ever, is a fond, watchful parent, and 

 when she has been alarmed by man or 

 a prowling beast, has been known to 

 remove her eggs to some other locality, 

 where she thinks they will not be 

 discovered. 



The nest is carelessly made of grasses 

 and stout herbage, on the ground, 

 under the shelter of grass and bushes. 



There are from six to ten eggs of yel- 

 lowish gray, with spots of light 

 brown. The young are fed first upon 

 insects, and afterwards on berries, 

 grain, and the buds and shoots of trees. 



The Black Grouse is a wild and 

 wary creature. The old male which 

 has survived a season oi two is particu- 

 larly shy and crafty, distrusting both 

 man and dog, and running away as 

 soon as he is made aware of approach- 

 ing danger. 



In the autumn the young males 

 separate themselves from the other sex 

 and form a number of little bachelor 

 establishments of their own, living 

 togetherinharmony until the next nest- 

 ing season, when they all begin to fall 

 in love ; " the apple of discord is 

 thrown among them by the charms of 

 the hitherto repudiated sex, and their 

 rivalries lead them into determined 

 and continual battles, which do not 

 cease until the end of the season 

 restores them to peace and sobriety." 



The coloring of the female is quite 

 different from that of the male Grouse. 

 Her general color is brown, with a 

 tinge of orange, barred with black and 

 speckled with the same hue, the spots 

 and bars being larger on the breast, 

 back, and wings, and the feathers on 

 the breast more or less edged with 

 white. The total length of the adult 

 male is about twenty-two inches, and 

 that of the female from seventeen to 

 eighteen inches. She also weighs 

 nearly one-third less than her mate, 

 and is popularly termed the Heath 

 Hen. 



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