596 FURTHER NOTES ON 



in this district are of the true Tetrao medius type, while those 

 shot during the present year exhibit the transition-forms, 

 affords matter for much consideration. 



According to the keepers, a hen Capercaillie appeared on 

 this ground some years ago, went about with the Blackcock, 

 and this was the origin of the first true Hybrid Cocks. 



But how is it that the specimens last killed come nearer to 

 the Capercaillie ? This species certainly never pairs with the 

 Greyhen, and it is also hardly credible that a cock Capercaillie 

 would, during the drumming-season, leave its woods, which 

 were well stocked with hens, to fly for many miles over the 

 open country and settle in thin fir-woods absolutely unsuited 

 to it. 



Is Tetrao medius, after all, a fertile or barren hybrid ? I 

 believe it to be fertile. Now, if its reproductive capabilities 

 be granted it is possible that a Capercaillie hen might be 

 fertilized by a hybrid bird, or even a hybrid by a hybrid; and 

 there is no saying whether such a union might not produce a 

 very singular form of reversion to the grandparents, in this 

 case to the Urogallus type. 



One thing is proved Tetrao medius is not a true species, 

 but a cross, for such enormous differences can only occur 

 among hybrids. Hybrid hens also exist, and if the males 

 have reproductive powers the same must hold good of the 

 females. 



At a distance of twenty paces at the most I saw two hens 

 on the ground near a Hybrid Cock, and their reddish colour 

 and peculiar size at once showed me that they were neither 

 Capercaillie nor Blackgame ; for I have had so much experience 

 in the pursuit of these birds in the most varied localities, and 

 have seen so very many of them, that I can quite rely on 

 the accuracy of my observation. The call of these hens was 

 also so different from that of both their ancestral species that 

 I was at once struck by its strangeness. 



