108 GAME BIRDS. 



few bars of black and orange. She makes an artless nest, on the 

 ground, and hatches her young late in summer. She lays from 

 six to eight eggs, of a dull, yellowish-white colour, marked with 

 numbers of very small, ferruginous specks, and towards the 

 smaller end, with some blotches of the same hue. 



They feed on bilberries and other mountain fruit, and in the 

 winter on the tops of heath ; in the summer they frequently 

 descend from the hills, to feed on corn. They never pair ; but in 

 the spring the male gets upon some eminence, crows, and claps 

 his wings, on which signal all the females within hearing resort 

 to him. The young males quit their mother, in the beginning of 

 winter, and keep in flocks of seven or eight till spring. During 

 that time they inhabit the woods; they are then very quarrelsome, 

 and will fight together like game cocks, and, at that time, are so 

 inattentive to their own safety, that it has often happened, that 

 two or three have been killed at one shot. 



When the snow begins to fall heavy, the black grouse betake 

 themselves to the shelter of tall heath, juniper, or any other 

 plant that will afford them cover, while the violent wind, with 

 which falls of snow are usually accompanied, continues, or they 

 roost under the thick branches of the pines, and occasionally perch 

 on the trees. 



Like the greater portion of the true grouse, the black grouse is 

 polygamous, and, during the months of January, February, and 

 March, when his adult plumage, of glossy steel-blue, is put on, 

 he is a noble-looking and splendid bird. Ifihe weather continues 

 warm, the flocks soon separate, and the males select some con- 

 spicuous spot, from whence they endeavour to drive all rivals, 

 and commence to display their arts to allure the females. The 

 places selected, at such seasons, are generally elevations. There, 

 after, perhaps, many battles have been fought, and rivals van- 

 quished, the noble, full-dressed, black cock, takes his stand, com- 

 mencing at first dawn; and, where the game is abundant, the 

 hills on every side repeat the murmuring call, almost before the 

 utterers can be distinguished. They strut round the spot selected, 

 trailing their wings, inflating the throat and neck, and puffing up 

 the plumage of these parts, and the now brilliant, red skin above 

 the eyes, which is of the deepest scarlet ; raising and expanding 

 their tail, displaying the beautifully contrasting white under 

 coverts, and imitating, as it were, the attitudes of a little turkey 

 cock ; he is soon heard by the females, who crowd around their 

 lord and master. 

 After the females deposit their eggs, the male birds lose their 



