CAPERCAILLIE 43 



to look out for suitable spots for nesting, not returning to 

 the rocks and precipices till late the following autumn, in 

 many cases not at all, being so easily killed in the early 

 part of the shooting-season. Having selected a favourable 

 spot under a spruce-fir or withered stump, ^ she proceeds 

 to scrape out a fair-sized hollow, and lines it with a few 

 leaves and feathers to suit her taste, and therein deposits, 

 at the end of May, from six to thirteen eggs. When 

 incubation commences, she sits very closely, even allowing 

 herself to be stroked by the hand without betraying any 

 uneasiness beyond a shake of her head and a hiss of 

 disapprobation. In course of time the chicks make their 

 appearance, and very seedy-looking little chaps they are, 

 requiring on the part of their mother the utmost care 

 and attention during the first few perilous days of 

 existence, which are so fatal to the large majority of them. 

 No young Game Birds, except perhaps Blackgame, and 

 even these are as a rule stronger, are so difficult to rear, 

 and though the hen Capercaillie hatches out the whole of her 

 brood, it is quite the exception ever to see more than three 

 or four youngsters with her after the first w^eek : not that 

 she is a bad or careless mother like the Pheasant, being, 

 on the contrary, most attentive and careful with them ; 

 but the young ones have so many difficulties to overcome, 

 such as deep heather and spring showers, that their 

 delicate little constitutions seem unable to surmount them ; 

 with the exception of one or two of the strongest, most of 

 them are soon killed by the damp or are lost in the deep 



^ The sketch entitled " The Home of the Capercaillie " was taken 

 from the woods near Murthly Castle. Beneath the decayed root shown 

 in the centre of the picture there was, in 1888, a Caper's nest with twelve 

 eses. 



