CAPERCAILLIE. 335 



habits of this noble bird that I am acquainted with is fur- 

 nished by L. Lloyd, Esq., in his Field Sports of the North 

 of Europe, written during a residence in Sweden and Nor- 

 way ; and as the opportunity of studying this bird in his 

 native forests occurs to but few, I hope I shall be excused 

 for selecting from this very interesting work a portion of 

 the following pages. 



" The Caper cali is to be found in most parts of the Scan- 

 dinavian peninsula ; indeed as far to the north as the pine 

 tree flourishes, which is very near to the North Cape itself. 

 These birds are, however, very scarce in the more southern 

 of the Swedish provinces. The favourite haunts of the 

 Capercali are extensive fir woods. In coppices, or small 

 cover, he is seldom or never to be found. Professor Nilsson 

 observes that those which breed in the larger forests re- 

 main there all the year round; but those which, on the 

 contrary, breed on the sides of elevated mountains, or in a 

 more open part of the country, in the event of deep snow, 

 usually fall down to the lower ground. 



" The principal food of the Capercali, when in a state 

 of nature, consists of the leaves and tender shoots of the 

 Scotch fir, Pinus sylvestris. He very rarely feeds upon 

 those of the spruce, Pinus abies. He also eats juniper 

 berries, cranberries, blueberries, and other berries common 

 to the northern forests ; and occasionally also, in the win- 

 ter time, the buds of the birch, &c. The young Capercali 

 feed principally at first on ants, worms, insects, &c. 



" In the spring of the year, and often when the ground 

 is still deeply covered with snow, the cock stations himself 

 on a pine, and commences his love-song, or play, as it is 

 termed in Sweden, to attract the hens about him. This is 

 usually from the first dawn of day to sunrise, or from a 

 little after sunset until it is quite dark. The time, how- 

 ever, more or less, depends upon the mildness of the wea- 



