— a 
CAPERCAILLIE. . 441 
species from Kamtschatka under the name of 7. kamtschaticus, which is 
somewhat intermediate both in comparative measurements and colour. 
The Capercaillie is almost exclusively a bird of the pine-forests ; but it is 
sometimes found at a distance from its favourite haunts, occasionally 
feeding amongst oaks or birches, especially where ground-fruits of various 
kinds are luxuriant. It prefers those forests where swampy places abound, 
and is seldom seen during the breeding-season far from water. It is a 
very conspicuous bird, and may often be observed from a great distance 
perched upon the extreme summit of a pine tree. It is very wary, and in 
Siberia the hunters are obliged to have dogs trained to bark at the foot of 
the tree in order to attract its attention and allow them to creep up within 
shot. They are not quite so timid when perched on the lower branches, 
and I have sometimes passed very near them when sledging through the 
forests over the snow. The female is much less wary than the male, 
apparently trusting in some measure for protection to the unobtrusive 
colour of her plumage. 
During the long Siberian winters, when the ground is covered for seven 
months or more with six feet of snow, the Capercaillie feeds almost entirely 
on the spines of the Scotch fir and the Siberian cedar. As soon as the 
summer comes the berries of the cranberry, whortleberry, crowberry, and 
bilberry, that have been preserved during the winter under the frozen snow, 
afford it abundant food until insects and their larvee abound, which, with 
the tender shoots and buds of various trees, are its principal food until 
the strawberries and the cloudberries are ripe enough to tempt it to change 
its diet again. It also feeds upon buckwheat, corn, and acorns. The hen 
Capercaillie is so much superior to the cock when brought to table that 
there can be little doubt that she eats very few of the pine-needles which 
give to the cock bird a strong flavour of turpentine. She probably obtains 
most of her food on the ground, whilst the cock, living so much in the 
trees, is often tempted to feed there even in summer. 
The Capercaillie is a bird of powerful flight, though it is seldom seen on 
the wing for long together, except on the rare occasions when it crosses a 
deep valley from one hill-side to another. The motion of its wings is 
rapid, steady, and not particularly noisy, except when it gets up suddenly : 
on such occasions there is noise enough, and the contemplative traveller 
who flushes a Capercaillie unexpectedly at his feet as he strolls on mountain 
er moor may be excused if some seconds elapse before he has re-collected 
his scattered senses and realized the fact that the world has not come to 
an end. 
The breeding-habits of this bird are very interesting. Although the 
males are said to exceed the females in number, the Capercaillie is a poly- 
gamous bird, and for two months in the year, April and May, the males 
devote themselves almost entirely to love and to war. The scene of opera- 
