592 FURTHER NOTES ON 



In the course of his remarks he also tells of a specimen 

 that was far more like a Capercaillie than any of the others, 

 and gives an exact description of its plumage. 



Under the heading " Of its habitat " Naumann has, among 

 many other highly interesting remarks, the following : " As 

 I did not start with any practical experience of the rights or 

 wrongs of this question, never having had an opportunity of 

 studying these Hybrid Wood-Grouse in the open, but having 

 only had my doubts raised by the important differences exist- 

 ing among various stuffed specimens, I gave them a double 

 share of my attention, and finally convinced myself that 

 Tetrao medius cannot be a distinct species, but merely a 

 hybrid, with the Blackcock for its father and the hen Caper- 

 caillie for its mother. It has, moreover, always been main- 

 tained in Sweden that the Blackcock and the hen of the 

 Willow-Grouse not uncommonly cross, and that, most strange 

 to say, hybrids spring from this union." 



The Swede Nilsson, under the title of " Hybrid Black- 

 game," brings forward most accurate and important notes, 

 and, among the many characteristic peculiarities of Tetrao 

 medius that he describes, also lays stress on the black breast 

 with its violet and purple sheen. 



The contributions of this naturalist are supported by prac- 

 tical experience, and aim at the determination of the Hybrid 

 cock as a cross between the Blackcock and the hen Caper- 

 caillie. On this point he expresses himself as follows : 



" I. Because, although the Hybrid Cock is yearly shot in 

 our country during the breeding -season, and is therefore 

 watched by the sportsmen, no one has ever yet known it to 

 have a drumming-place of its own, or seen it in broods or 

 with its own hens, but always either alone or on the drumming- 

 places of other birds. 



" II. Because it is clearly proved that the hen Capercaillie 

 resorts to the drumming-places of the Blackcock and there 

 crosses with them. 



