128 THE CAPERCAILLIE. 



leaves, had perhaps just left it shortly before. The Caper- 

 caillie may give it an additional scrape, or she may not, but, 

 at all events, she settles upon it and lays her eggs. Perhaps 

 the hen pheasant deserts, perhaps they sit amicably on the 

 eggs by turns. In either case the eggs are kept warm, unless 

 indeed the Capercaillie ejects them. Perhaps a gamekeeper 

 comes by that way. He sees the pheasant's eggs, and lifts 

 them, and they are hatched out under a hen, but he is pretty 

 sure to blame the Capercaillie for usurpiiig the pheasant's 

 nest, when perhaps really the pheasant is the bird which 

 ought to bear the judgment ; in other words, the Capercailhe 

 gets more blame than she really deserves. The number of 

 pheasant's eggs lost in this way cannot surely be very great. 

 When partridges and pheasants' eggs are found in the same 

 nest — as they often are — tell me, which is the aggressor ? 



Other correspondents, but not many, believe that Caper- 

 caillies drive away the old pheasants and kill the young in 

 the same way as described in the former section with regard 

 to black game. If, as I strongly suspect, the hen pheasant is 

 the first aggressor — laying in the hen Capercaillie's nest, and 

 claiming a part of the maternal duties — it is perhaps natural 

 that the stronger bird should assert her rights, or suspect the 

 pheasant's motives, and retaliate by driving her off, and even 

 killing the young pheasants. But, for reasons above stated, I 

 think this can only be in exceptional cases, and only in self- 

 defence. 



There can be no doubt that the hen birds of the two 

 species do fight at the feeding-places intended for the pheas- 

 ants, and that sometimes a hen pheasant is kiUed or maimed 

 in the battle ; but this will find its own cure in some other 

 way than by extirpating the Capercaillies. 



