NATURAL HISTORY 2B 



soon settling again in the trees, where 

 they remain motionless, and where only 

 a trained and quick eye can pick them 

 up. 



Their note is a low melancholy whistle, 

 and they are easily called by means of 

 a peculiar instrument, extensively used 

 in Roumania, where they abound, and 

 so constructed that the performer can 

 imitate at will the call of either cock or 

 hen to attract members of the opposite 

 sex. Apart from the sport he affords, 

 the hazel hen has a strong recommenda- 

 tion to our favour, for he is quite the 

 best bird in the world to eat, with flesh 

 white in colour, and of a peculiar and 

 eminently palatable flavour. 



Hazel hens find their natural home 

 among rough and dense forests on hill- 

 sides of no great altitude ; their range 

 extends northwards through Scandinavia, 

 southwards as far as China and Japan, 

 while the Ardennes form their western 

 limit in Europe. 



Their food consists of the shoots and 



