THE GAME-BIRDS AND RAILS 



399 



female friends join company " and march away. The capercallie is jealous of trespassers on his 

 domain, and instances are on record where people have been attacked when so infringing. 



Like the capercallie, the BLACKCOCK must be sought in the woods, whence he sallies forth 

 to the moors and stubble-fields to feed. The GREY-HEN, as the female of this species is called, 

 lays from six to ten eggs, of a buff colour, spotted with rich brown : both in number and 

 colour they resemble those of the capercallie. 



The naturalist Brehm gives a delightful account of the love-making of this bird. During 

 the spring, he says, " the bird utters almost continuously the strangest noises. He holds his 

 tail up and spreads it out like a fan, he lifts up his head and neck with all the feathers erect, 

 and stretches his wings from the body. Then he takes a few jumps in different directions, 

 sometimes in a circle, and presses 

 the under part of his beak so hard 

 against the ground that the chin- 

 feathers are rubbed off. During 

 these movements he beats his wings 

 and turns round and round. The 

 more ardent he grows, the more 

 lively he becomes, until at last the 

 bird appears like a frantic creature. 

 At such times the blackcocks are 

 so absorbed that they become 

 almost blind and deaf, but less so 

 than the capercallie." 



North America is very rich in 

 large forms of grouse ; and one of 

 the most interesting of these is the 

 PRAIRIE-HEN, remarkable for the 

 possession of a pair of curious bags 

 of a bright orange colour on each 

 side of the neck, which can be 

 inflated with air at will. 



" Early in the morning," writes 

 Captain Bendire of the praire-hen, 

 " you may see them assemble in 

 parties, from a dozen to fifty together, 

 on some dry knolls . . . and their 

 goings-on would make you laugh. 

 The air-sacs are their ornaments, 

 which they display . . . before the 

 gentler sex by blowing them up 

 till they look like two ripe oranges 

 . . . projecting their long, black 

 ears right forward, ruffling up all 

 the feathers of the body till they 

 stand out straight, and dropping 

 their wings on the ground like a 

 turkey-cock. . . . Then it is that 

 the proud cock, in order tocomplete 

 his triumph, will rush forward at his 

 best speed . . . through the midst 

 of the love-sick damsels, pouringout 



Photo by Dr. R. If. Stlufildt] 



[tVathingtvn 



as he goes a booming noise . . . 



TEXAN BOB-WHITE (ABOUT HALF NATURAL SIZE) 



This bird takes its name from its note " Bob-White ** 



