150 IMMENSE PACKS. 



iuliabited places, where immense numbers were captured ; 

 as, for example, in Raneii, and in the valley of the river 

 Calix." " It is a certain sign of the near aj)proach of 

 snow-storms," this writer goes on to say, " when one in 

 the autumn sees the PjiiU-Ripa collected in large packs. 

 At times there may be as many as a thousand together. 

 They are then exceedingly wary ; and an old male gives 

 notice to the rest, by his singular cry, when danger is 

 at hand." 



Though the Fjiill-Ripa affords but little spoi*t, the 

 same cannot be said of the Dal-Ripa. The best shooting 

 as regards the latter is probably on the upper slopes of 

 the fjillls, which for the greater part are clothed with 

 mere brushwood, and the ground in consequence most 

 favourable for both the gunner and the pointer. The 

 young are fit to shoot about the beginning of Sejitember, 

 and as the birds then trychi, or lie well to the dog, any 

 moderate number may be bagged in a day. 



"When pursuing this amusement," M. Earth tells us, 

 " one not unfrequently falls in with packs of old males 

 that had been unable to mate themselves in the spring, and 

 which wander about alone and disconsolate during the 

 summer and early autumn. Once, on a little island 

 covered with brushwood, myself and friend fell in with 

 a company of about forty of these ' widowers,' and suc- 

 ceeded in killing fifteen of their number. 



" Late in the season," he continues, " the several 

 families begin to pack, and to remove higher up the f jiills, 

 where their numbers are constantly increased by fresh 

 arrivals, and ultimately they take up their abode just 

 below the limits of arborovis vegetation. From the 

 moment the Dal- Ripa are thus congregated together, they 

 w ill no longer ' trycka,' but for the most part either 

 take wing a long way off, or, should the cover be thick, 

 run rajjidly ahead. During the winter, indeed, they 



