BLACKGAME 63 



has the efFect of makiiio- the flesh of the latter exceedinolv 

 rank and turpentiny, whereas it is seklom that one gets a 

 Scotch or English bird that can honestly be called at all 

 disagreeable in this respect — there is generally just enough 

 of the gamy flavour to make it agreeable. 



In this country Blackgame do not migrate, as they do 

 in some districts in Sweden and Russia ; indeed even the 

 large flights of the birds seen in those countries can hardly 

 be called migrations, they are only making their annual 

 change in search of the food they like best, and do not 

 always travel to the same spots, their goings and comings 

 being regulated by the abundance or otherwise of the 

 birch-bud or fir-crop in the various districts to which they 

 journey. Here, one but occasionally sees single birds or 

 small parties travelling high in the air from one range of 

 hills to another, during the spring or autumn : these are 

 individuals in quest of new feeding-grounds, or are merely 

 being moved by the usual spirit of restlessness that over- 

 takes most birds at those seasons ; they generally return 

 ao-ain to their old haunts after a short absence. 



o 



When the icy Ijlasts of winter show signs of abatement, 

 and the first warm rays of the March sun have taken the 

 sharp edge oft' their keenness, the bellicose disposition of 

 the Blackcock, that has so long been dormant, is once 

 more aroused into life and activity by their quickening 

 influence, till, by the beginning of April, the martial fires 

 can be subdued no lonei'er and find a natural outlet in 

 open warfare, when each and every one endeavours to 

 prove his superiority and his proper right to the aftection 

 of the fair sex by the strength of his bill. 



As with the Capercaillie, they select a regular spot 



