HYBRID GROUSE. 583 



rather clearly uttered at short intervals, which kept decreas- 

 ing, and wound up with a muffled croaking corresponding 

 to the principal note (" Hauptschlag"). 



This moment I utilized for " springing in," and approached 

 it without any concealment, just as one does in the shoot- 

 ing of Capercaillie ; and when it was silent for a few 

 moments I imitated the call of the hen Capercaillie, and it 

 instantly recommenced its ugly song. Whether the Hybrid 

 Cock, Hke^he Capercaillie, neither sees nor hears at the 

 moment when it utters the " Hauptschlag " is hard to say; 

 but I certainly succeeded in getting so close to this bird, in 

 spite of the bright sunshine and the very slight cover afforded 

 by the thin wood, that I easily brought it down from the top 

 of a spruce-tree. 



The special preference for certain localities that is shown 

 by these birds is an interesting fact. On the ground where I 

 killed my first specimen three of them have been shot during 

 the last few years ; and where I bagged the second, one has 

 been missed and another seen, while the very morning that I 

 obtained mine an acquaintance also killed one not far away. 

 For many years there have been no Capercaillies on that 

 ground, and the preserves have held nothing but Blackgame, 

 yet, curiously enough, that cock did not drum on the ground, 

 but on a tree in a thick wood, and the lucky sportsman, after 

 " springing " and killing it, saw a small hen that was perched 

 on a tree above him. This interesting bird he considered to be 

 a hybrid, and the forester stated that he had during the pre- 

 sent year seen two of these medium-sized hens on the ground 

 under his charge. Later on a Hybrid Cock again began 

 calling there, also from a tree, which was, however^ accord- 

 ing to the forester, situated near the fringe of the wood, for 

 the bird often left its high perch, fought among the Blackcock, 

 and after a few minutes returned to its tree. The same 

 forester also said that he saw in that wood a large hen 

 Capercaillie with five young ones just beginning to change 



