THE FEATHERED GAME OF NORWAY. 163 
as the colour of their plumage bears a great resem- 
blance to the bark of the tree, it is only by scanning 
each bough in succession from one end to the other 
that they can be detected. A friend of mine has 
assured me that he has remained under a tree for 
a quarter of an hour in which he knew that a bird had 
perched, before he could distinguish it. 
They are generally to be found in the thickest 
and most retired glades in the forest, where they 
are but little exposed to disturbance ; for they appear to 
love quiet. If it were not for this propensity they 
would be exposed to countless enemies, as a more 
stupid bird, perhaps, does not exist. 
From the above description it may, I think, be 
inferred that hjerpe shooting does not offer great at- 
tractions. In fact I should pronounce it to be ex- 
tremely stupid and unprofitable work. 
That these birds would thrive admirably in some of 
the largest of our Scotch forests, or even in parks in 
England where they would not be exposed to disturbance, 
I fully believe, and in this opinion Professor Rasch 
confirms me. The great difficulty, however, seems to 
be to get them there. In the first place, it is no easy 
thing to procure the eggs, or, if procured, to hatch them. 
The above-named gentleman told me that, when a 
young man, he has repeatedly made the experiment, 
but never succeeded in bringing them up. 
