2i68 



THE GAME BIRDS AND RAILS 



morning and evening they fight for the possession of the females; each challenging 

 the other in turn, and going through a series of skirmishes till the older and stronger 

 birds have driven off the rest and won the females. Black game are chiefly found 

 in the neighborhood of pine and birch forests bordering moorland, where bilberry, 

 cranberry, heath, and bracken flourish, though they may sometimes be seen on the 

 open moor. Although their flight is straight, and their regular wing beats some- 

 what labored, they can travel at a great rate. Black game perch on trees, much of 

 their food consisting of buds and flowers, while in autumn they may be seen on the 

 stubbles in search of grain. The blackcock by no means confines his attentions 

 during the pairing season to the hens of his own species, the hybrids produced by 

 a cross between this species and the capercaillie being not uncommon. Sometimes, 

 too, he interbreeds with the red grouse; and more rarely with the willow grouse, 

 hazel hen, and pheasant, while crosses with domestic fowls have been known to 

 occur. 



BI,ACK GAME IN THE SNOW. 



The largest members of the tribe are the capercaillie or wood grouse, 

 inhabiting the pine forests of Northern and Central Europe and Asia. 

 Three different species and one well-marked local race are known, all of which may 

 be recognized by their very large size, as well as by their rounded tail composed of 

 eighteen feathers. The capercaillie ( Tetrao urogallus} ranges through Northern 

 and Central Europe to Turkestan and the Altai, but in the Urals is represented by a 

 paler form, with the whole of the breast and under parts white in the male. In typ- 

 ical examples of the common species the breast and under parts are black, with 

 some of the feathers in the middle of the breast tipped with white, but numerous 

 examples are to be met with in the London market in every intermediate stage of 

 plumage, and are believed to be imported from some of the southern states of Rus- 

 sia, though the exact locality is uncertain. In Northeastern Siberia a different 

 species ( T. parvirostris} occurs, while the third form ( T. kamchaticus} is confined 

 to Kamchatka. These eastern birds are distinguished from the common species by 

 their smaller bill, and by the scapulars being widely tipped with white, the females 



