]5(> IMMENSE PACKS. 



inhabited places, where immense numbers were captured ; 

 as, for example, in lliineii, and in the valley of the river 

 Calix." " It is a certain sign of the near approach of 

 snow-storms," this writer goes on to say, " when one in 

 the autumn sees the Fjiill-Ripa collected in large packs. 

 At times there may be as many as a thousand together. 

 They are then exceedingly wary ; and an old male gives 

 notice to the rest, by his singular cry, when danger is 

 at hand." 



Though the Fjall-Ripa affords but little sport, the 

 same cannot be said of the Dal-Ripa. The best shooting 

 as regards the latter is probably on the upper slopes of 

 the fjdlls, which for the greater part are clothed with 

 mere brushwood, and the ground in consequence most 

 favourable for both the gunner and the pointer. The 

 young arc fit to shoot about the beginning of September, 

 and as the birds then trycka, or lie well to the dog, any 

 moderate number may be bagged in a day. 



" When pursuing this amusement," M. Barth tells us, 

 " one not unfrequently falls in with packs of old males 

 that had been unable to mate themselves in the spriiiL!-. and 

 which wander about alone and disconsolate during the 

 summer and early autumn. Once, on a little island 

 covered with brushwood, myself and friend fell in with 

 a company of about forty of these ' \\ido\\ ITS.' and suc- 

 ceeded in killing fifteen of their number. 



"Late in the season," he continues, " the several 

 families begin to pack, and to remove higher up the ijalls 

 where their numbers are constantly increased by fresh 

 arrivals, and ultimately they take up their abode just 

 below the limits of arborous vegetation. From the 

 moment the Dal-Ripa arc thus congregated together, they 

 will no longer ' trycka,' but for the most part either 

 take wing a Ion- \\.iy oil', or, should the cover be thick, 

 run rapidly ahead. During the winter, indeed, they 



