132 BREEDING. 



with these birds, the old males always spel first, and when 

 they have finished the younger ones commence. The 

 Dal-Ripa are now no longer seen in packs as during the 

 winter, but here and there in single pairs. At about two 

 o'clock in the morning the males make the woods resound 

 with their sharp laughing cries, followed by a less loud 

 note, kavau, kavau, kavau, to which tin- female replies, 

 njau, njau, njau." 



" From what I have observed," says M. Genberg, " the 

 Dal-Ripa are the first of the forest birds to commence 

 their Lek. The time is however regulated by the state 

 of the weather. If the spring be mild, they already begin 

 at the end of March or early in April, or it may be even 

 previously. They are then almost always found on the 

 outskirts of woods near morasses. In this part of the 

 country the Dal-Ripa is looked on as the tdckare or 

 awakener of the forest birds, as its prrrr, pad,- ////, is 

 always heard prior to the spel of the Capercali or the 

 Black-Cock." 



" At the Lek of the Dal-Ripa there are said to be more 

 males than females, attributable by some to the latter 

 being most exposed to the attacks of vermin, and many 

 of the males are consequently left without mates. "When, 

 therefore, the pairing season is over, these males assemble 

 in large or small packs and pass the summer as best they 

 may in some remote and out of the way place, as if wish- 

 ing to avoid the sight of their more favoured rivals." 



The female forms a simple nest under a bush, the 

 stump of a tree, in heather, or the like. She lays from 

 eight to fourteen oggs. "Sometimes," .M. Burth state-, 

 "as many as twenty," \\hieh in si/.e and colour so ^really 

 resemble those of the Scotch Arouse that it is difficult to 

 distinguish the one from the other. 



As a general rule, the VOIIIIL' are hatched about the 

 middle of .lime; the time, ho\\e\er. much depending on 



