BLACK GROUS. RA8OKES. TETRAO. 425 



The female deposits her eggs in May; they are from six Nest,&c. 

 to ten in number, of a yellowish-grey colour, blotched with 

 reddish-brown. The nest is of most artless construction, 

 being composed of a few dried stems of grass placed on the 

 ground, under the shelter of a tall tuft or low bush ; and 

 generally in marshy spots, where long and coarse grasses 

 abound. The young of both sexes at first resemble each 

 other, and their plumage is that of the hen, with whom they 

 continue till the autumnal moult takes place ; at this time the 

 males acquire the garb of the adult bird, and, quitting their 

 female parent, join the societies of their own sex. The food Food, 

 of the Black Grous, during the summer, chiefly consists of 

 the seeds of some species of Juncus, the tender shoots of 

 heath, and insects. In autumn, the crowberry, or Craw- 

 crook (Empetrum nigrum), the cranberry (Vaccinium oxy- 

 coccos), the whortleberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea), and the 

 trailing arbutus (Arbutus uva-ursi), afford it a plentiful 

 subsistence. In winter, and during severe and snowy wea- 

 ther, it eats the tops and buds of the birch and elder, as well 

 as the embryo shoots of the fir tribe, which it is well enabled 

 to obtain, as it is capable of perching upon trees without any 

 difficulty. At this season of the year, in situations where 

 arable land is interspersed with the wild tracts it inhabits, 

 descending into the stubble grounds, it feeds upon grain. 



In the adult state, the Black Grous displays great shyness 

 of character, and, after the autumnal moult, is not easily ap- 

 proached within gunshot. Frequent attempts have been 

 made to domesticate this bird, but without success; and, 

 through all the trials that have taken place, it has never been 

 known to breed in confinement. It seems to be a species 

 more widely dispersed throughout the central parts of Eu- 

 rope than any of the rest, and is found tolerably abundant 

 in Germany, France, and Holland. In the more northern 

 countries, Denmark and Sweden, Norway and Russia, it is 

 very common. 



The flesh of this bird is sweet and well favoured, not of so 



