192 TEN TEARS IN SWEDEN. 



chap sallies into the woods with his dog in August and 

 September, when the young broods can just fly. They are 

 almost always on the ground in the day-time at this season 

 of the year, and when his dog springs them they fly up and 

 perch on the neighbouring trees. He now takes up his dog 

 and sits very still for a quarter of an hour, when he begins 

 to imitate the call of the young bird, to bring the old hen 

 first within shot of him, for if he once gets her, the young 

 birds are as safe as if they were in his pocket. After 

 he has bagged the old hen, he then imitates her call, 

 and the young birds come flying round him, often pitching 

 on the very tree under which he is sitting. He need rarely 

 leave his seat till he has cleared off the whole brood. Caper- 

 caillie, black grouse, and hazel grouse are all swept off in 

 this way. This game, however, will not do after about Sep- 

 tember. The best day's capercaillie- shooting I ever had 

 was in Lapland, when I killed in August seven full-grown 

 birds (and all but one, fairly on the wing) in one afternoon. 



I see by the " Sporting Magazine " that in the winter of 

 1 862 between fifty and sixty loads of capercaillie, black game, 

 hazel grouse, and willow grouse, were sent away from seven 

 parishes in North Dalecarlia. Each load contained eighty 

 brace of capercaillie, or if not they reckon four black grouse, 

 and eight willow grouse, or hazel grouse, to each brace of 

 capercaillie. So there is still a good deal of game in some of 

 these northern provinces. These were all trapped or shot 

 by the peasants, who principally use ' ( lod bossa," or small 

 pea rifles, rarely a shot gun. 



The Black Grouse is met with every where from the 

 very south of Scania, and on some moors there is ex- 

 cellent black game shooting in the open. But in the mid- 

 land and northern districts we rarely find them in the open, 

 except in long heather, just outside the forests, in the early 

 part of the season. With a good setter, I have no doubt a 

 man might pick up a good many odd brace in the open 

 patches of heather in and about all these forests ; but after 

 that he must look for them in the forest, and use such a dog 

 as I have before recommended. I have sometimes fallen in 



