CHAPTER VII. 



The Rackel-Fogel. Not a Separate Species. The Learned at Fault. 

 Plumage of these Birds. Their Parentage. Opinions differ. The 

 Rackel-Fogel in Confinement. -Their Habits. Pugnacity of the 

 Males. Their Spel. 



HYBRIDS between the Capercali and the Black-Cock 

 called in Sweden Rachel- Foyel are not so very 

 uncommon in Scandinavia. The accompanying illustration 

 by the late M. Korner, taken from specimens in the Lund 

 Museum, gives a very good idea of the general appearance 

 of these birds. 



The existence of the Rackel-Pogel as hybrids has been 

 perfectly well known in the peninsula for a very long 

 time. Some years ago, however, Russian and German 

 naturalists, thinking they had made a discovery, elevated 

 this bird into a separate species, to which they gave the 

 name of Tctrao intcrmedius, and afterwards Tctrao medhts; 

 but since then they have, I believe, found out and rectified 

 their error. 



The plumage of the Eacl'd-ILanc the male is said 

 to vary considerably in different individuals. According 



