36 BIRDS OF LOCH AND MOUNTAIN 



south it would probably have been impossible to 

 have exposed a plate at all at this late hour ; but 

 in Aberdeenshire, at the longest day, the sun is 

 still above the horizon at nine o'clock p.m., and 

 it is possible to read a newspaper outside at 

 midnight. 



Although such a large bird, the Capercailzie 

 seems singularly unable to protect her eggs, and 

 these suffer greatly from the attacks of the Hoodie 

 Crow and four-footed marauders, such as the stoat 

 and weazel. Often I have seen a deserted nest 

 with the sucked eggs lying all around a very 

 pathetic sight. At other times I have discovered 

 a Capercailzie's nest with a full clutch of eggs, and 

 on revisiting it have each time found one or 

 two missing, until at last the poor mother bird 

 had none left to care for. The haunt of these 

 birds may often be discovered by the droppings 

 beneath their favourite trees, and, as a general 

 rule, they prefer ancient pine forests to those of 

 more recent date. 



Black Game and Capercailzie frequently in- 

 terbreed, and some very fine "crosses" have been 

 obtained in Aberdeenshire recently ; sometimes, 

 too, a single nest will be found containing eggs 

 of both these birds, but this is a much rarer oc- 

 currence than in the case of the Partridge and 

 Pheasant. The young Capercailzies are a consider- 

 able time before reaching maturity, and the male 

 birds are not full grown till very late in the season. 

 They keep with the parent bird until August 

 and are very carefully looked after. Often, 

 however, a chick falls a victim to a hungry 

 Sparrow Hawk, or a plundering stoat thins the 

 brood. The young birds, while fairly good eating, 



