HABITS OF THE BLACK GROUSE. ill 



shot. Neither the Llack game nor the ptarmigan are 

 found in Ireland. 



The food of the black game is various, such as the bil- 

 berry and otlier mountain berries, and in winter, the tops 

 of the heath. During the summer they may sometimes 

 be seen feeding in the corn fields, and if there are any 

 stone walls near the cultivated land some may be seen 

 perched on them keeping a sharjD look out to avoid 

 danger. 



The black game never pair, but in the spring the 

 male birds collect together in elevated situations on the 

 heath, when at this time they crow and clap their 

 wings. On the females hearing these signals, they 

 attend the summons. In this season they are very 

 quarrelsome, and will fight together like game cocks, 

 and he who proves himself strongest and gains the 

 victory keeps off his rivals from the female birds. 

 When engaged in these love affairs, they lose sight of 

 danger, and will allow persons to approach them. The 

 hen takes little pains in making. the nest on the ground, 

 but when she goes to feed covers her eggs with great 

 care. The male poults quit their mother at the beginning 

 of winter, and may be seen during that season in flocks 

 of eight or ten. During that time they resort to the 

 woods, if there should be any, but always give a pre- 

 ference to wild uncultivated grounds, where there is 

 a good cover of heath sedges and a variety of low 

 under-cover. They are also partial to moist situations 

 in the summer. In their early plumage they resemble 

 the female, not acquiring the black colour until the end 

 of autumn, which they then always retain. An old 

 sportsman makes the following remarks respecting black 

 game : " The broods of black grouse are not found in 



