10 OUR RARER BRITISH BREEDING BIRDS. 



under some bush or bramble amongst grass, heather, 

 or in the open, in spruce, Scotch fir, larch, and 

 oak and birch forests throughout the counties of 

 Perthshire, Stirlingshire, and Forfarshire. Our 

 illustration was obtained in the first-named county 

 not far from Dunkeld, and had the female sat a 

 moment longer my brother would have succeeded 

 in making a study of her on her nest. 



The Capercaillie lays from six to twelve or even 

 fifteen eggs of a pale reddish-yellow ground colour, 

 spotted and speckled all over with two shades of 

 darker orange-brown. Their large size distinguishes 

 them from the eggs of the Black Grouse, with 

 which alone they are likely to be confused. 



CHOUGH. 



FKOM one cause or another this beautiful bird 

 seems to have been gradually on the down grade 

 in point of numbers since Shakespeare's time, when 

 it bred in the cliffs of Dover. It still maintains 

 a lingering foothold in one or two places on the 

 south coast of England ; but when men actually 

 wait beneath its nest, morning by morning, in 

 order that they may. turn its eggs to monetary 

 account as dropped, in some of its ancient strong- 

 holds, as I am told on good authority they do, its 

 banishment from the maritime cliffs of England 

 seems to be only a question of time. 



It still breeds sparingly in Wales, and also in 

 Ireland, where our illustration was obtained. The 

 nest was situated on a small ledge in a cave 

 where, as may be judged, it was no easy matter 

 to photograph it. The exposure lasted something 



