214 STRA Y FEA THERS FROM MANY BIRDS. 



right away. Another matter to bear in mind is that the 

 Blackcock rarely flies uphill, but when flushed goes 

 away at a lower level ; the gunner should therefore 

 always endeavour to be below his birds. Shooting 

 Blackcock over a dog in late autumn is also good sport, 

 especially when the sportsman goes out alone, as he 

 was wont to do in the good old days, prepared for 

 anything that might rise before him. The Blackcock, 

 being a marketable article somewhat easily captured, is 

 consequently a favourite quarry of the poacher. Taking 

 them with silk nets, either on the ground or when 

 roosting in trees, is the favourite method adopted by 

 these gentry. Perhaps this mode of taking Blackcock 

 will explain why it is we see them exposed for sale in 

 game-dealers' shops on the first day of the season, at an 

 hour which makes it quite impossible for them to have 

 been shot in a legitimate manner. 



In the pine region of the Caucasus, another species 

 of Black Grouse is met with, precisely similar to the 

 British bird in colour, but smaller and with the tail 

 nearly straight, though deeply forked. The Caucasian 

 hunters have great difficulty in shooting this novel bird, 

 as it only lives in the most inaccessible forests near the 

 snow line. 



