CHAPTER III. 



Shooting Capercali at the Pairing-Ground. To the Pointer. Tragical 

 Event. Swedish Criminal Law. To the " Fogel-Hund." Adventure 

 with a Bear. Good Sport. How to make a Bag. 



Capercali, owing to its great size and eatable 

 qualities, being in every sense of the word "a 

 great acquisition to the larder," various are the expe- 

 dients resorted to in Scandinavia to effect its capture. 



Many fall to the gun, and, for the most part, in the 

 pairing season; at which time, though contrary to law, 

 thousands of these noble birds (chiefly males) are merci- 

 lessly slaughtered. Any lump of a fellow, indeed, who is 

 able to pull a trigger can then knock them down in the 

 way I am now about to describe. 



The whereabouts of the Lek-stdlle, of which mention 

 Avas made in the last chapter, having been ascertained, 

 the gunner for a sportsman he can hardly be called 

 proceeds to the spot either over-night (in which case he 

 bivouacks in its vicinity), or at a very early hour in the 

 morning. "He should be there," we are told, "by the 

 first dawn of day, when the Woodcock begins to rode, 



