GAME BIRDS. 105 



feathers ; the edges of the toes strongly pectinated ; claws dusky 

 and blunt. 



The female is much less than her mate, and entirely unlike him 

 in her plumage, so that she might be mistaken for another species; 

 she lays from eight to sixteen eggs, which are white, and marked 

 with yellow, of a larger size than those of a common hen ; she 

 generally lays them in a dry place, and mossy ground, and 

 hatches them without the company of the cock ; when she is 

 obliged, during the time of incubation, to leave her eggs in quest 

 of food, she covers them up so artfully, with moss, or dry leaves, 

 that it is extremely difficult to discover them ; on this occasion 

 she is extremely tame and tranquil, however wild and timorous 

 in ordinary ; she often keeps to her nest, though strangers 

 attempt to drag her away. 



As soon as the young ones are hatched, they are seen running 

 with extreme agility after the mother, though sometimes they are 

 not entirely disengaged from the shell, the hen leads them forward 

 for the first time, into the woods, shows them ants' eggs, and the 

 wild mountain berries, which, while young, are their only food ; 

 as they grow older, their appetites grow stronger, and they then 

 feed upon the tops of heather and the cones of the pine tree ; in 

 this^manner, they soon come to perfection. They are a hardy 

 bird, their food lies everywhere before them, and it would seem 

 that they should increase in great abundance, but this is not the 

 case, their numbers are thinned by rapacious birds and beasts of 

 every kind, and still more by their own salacious contests. As 

 soon as the clutching is over, which the female performs in the 

 manner of a hen, the whole brood follows the mother, for about 

 a month or two, at the end of which the young inales entirely 

 forsake her, and keep in great harmony together, until the be- 

 ginning of spring. At this season they begin, for the first time, 

 to feel the genial access, and then adieu to all their former friend- 

 ships, they begin to consider each other as rivals, and the rage of 

 concupiscence, quite extinguishes the spirit of society ; they fight 

 each other like game cocks, and at that time are so inattentive of 

 their own safety, that it often happens that two or three of them 

 are killed at a shot ; it is probable that in these contests the bird 

 which comes off victorious, takes possession of the whole female 

 flock, as it is certain they have no faithful attachments. 



There has been many recent attempts to re-establish this fine 

 bird in Scotland. The Duke of Athol, Lord Breadalbane, and 

 Lord Fyfe, having each introduced them from Sweden, with every 

 prospect of success ; the female birds having layed abundantly in 



