62 SHOOTING. 



They inhabit North America and Europe ; those of the latter 

 country extending into Northern Asia." 



THE WOOD GHOTJSE, OB, CAPERCALLIE. 



The Wood Grouse, or Capercallie [Tetrao JJrogallus, Linn.) is 

 sometimes called the Cock-of-the-icood, and sometimes the Giant 

 Gi'otise, from his great size and imposing appearance. He stands at 

 the head of feathered game in these islands, but he is very seldom 

 to be met with. Ei'om certain historical accounts, it appears they 

 "v. ere once very abimdant in the forests of both Scotland and 

 Ii-eland. Bewick describes him thus : — " He is as large as a turkey, 

 and is about two feet nine inches in length, and weighs from twelve 

 to fifteen pounds. The bill is very strong, convex, and of a horny 

 colour; over each eye there is a naked skin of a bright red colour; 

 the eyes are hazel, the nostrils are small, and almost hid under a 

 covei mg of short feathers, wliich extend under the throat, and are 

 there much longer than the rest, and of a black colour; the head 

 and neck are elegantly marked with small transverse lines of black 

 and gray, as are also the back and -wTngs, but more irregularly ; the 

 breast is black, richly glossed with green on the upper part, and 

 mixed ^vith a few white feathers on the belly and thighs ; the sides 

 are marked like the neck; the tail consists of eighteen feathers, 

 which are black, those on the sides are marked with a few white 

 spots ; the legs are very stout, and covered with brown feathers ; 

 the toes are furnished on each side with a strong pectinated mem- 

 brane. _The female is considerably less than the male, and differs 

 greatly ia her colours : the throat is red ; the transverse bars on 

 the head, neck, and back, are red and black ; the breast is of a pale 

 orange colour • belly barred with orange and black, the top of each 

 feather is white ; the back and wings are mottled with reddish 

 brown and black, the scapulars tipped with white ; the tail is of a 

 deep rust colom-, barred with black and tipped with white."* 



The pairing of this magnificent bird commences about the spring, 

 the sexes having congregated together in packs dming the winter of 

 fifty or a hundred in number. Wlien the pairing is effected, the 

 female makes a rude kind of nest, lays from eight to sixteen eggs, 

 in some suitable place where she can sit undisturbed on and hatch 

 them ia security. The young, like farm-yard fowls, are active and 

 Stirling as soon as they leave the shell, and it is even said that 

 they have frequently been seen running about with part of that 

 appendage hanging to them. _ 



These birds being so rare in Britain, their shooting can scarcely 

 require any lengthy remarks. In some parts of the continent, par- 

 tic laiiy in Sweden, they form an im;portant item in the game-list 

 of birds. They are commonly ia this country flushed from the 

 ground in autumn, when they are feeding on a species of berry, of 

 » Birds, p. 296. 



