BLACK GROUSE. J 



SHOOTING, 



[black GmOTJSE. 



that colour upon the shoulder when the wing 

 is closed. The quills are brown ; the lower 

 parts and tips of the secondary ones are white, 

 and make a bar of white across the wing. 

 There is likewise a spot of white upon the 

 bastard wing. The legs and thighs are tole- 

 rably thickly covered with dark brown feathers, 

 mottled with white. The toes are toothed on 

 the edges, like those of the capercallie. The 

 tail is much forked, and consists of sixteen 

 black feathers ; the end of the outer feather, 

 which curves outwardly, seems as if separated 

 or cut off. The feathers under the tail, and 

 the inner covers of the wings, are of a pure 

 white. The female bird is considerably less 

 than the male ; having a length only of one 

 foot six inches, and a breadth of two feet six 

 inches. Its weight averages about two pounds. 

 Like the male bird it has a dusk}^ mark beneath 

 the eye. The head and neck are marked alter- 

 nately with bars or stripes of dull red and 

 black ; and the breast has a dusky white and 

 black appearance. The coverts of the wings, 

 the back, and the tail, are of the same colour 

 as the neck, with the exception of the red 

 being of a deeper hue. The inner webs of the' 

 quill feathers are spotted with black and white. 

 The inner coverts of the wings are white, and 

 there is a white spot on the shoulder of both 

 the male and female birds. In the latter, the 

 tail is slightly forked, and it consists of 

 eighteen feathers richly variegated with red 

 and black. Under the tail the feathers are 

 white, marked with a few bars of black and 

 orange. The nest on the ground is of the 

 most simple and artless kind. The female 

 lays from six to eight eggs, which are of a dull 

 yellowish-white colour, marked with a number 

 of very small ferruginous specks, and, towards 

 the smaller end, with some blotches of the 

 same hue. They are hatched late in the 

 summer. The young males quit their mother 

 in the beginning of the winter, and keep in 

 flocks of seven or eight until spring. During 

 that period they frequent the woods. In their 

 first feather they resemble their mother, and 

 do not acquire their full plumage till near the 

 end of autumn, when it gradually changes, 

 and assumes that bluish-black colour which it 

 afterwards retains. 



The black grouse, like other members of the 

 family, are polygamous ; and in January, 

 532 



Febrixary, and March, the plumage of the male 

 bird assumes a rich glossy steel blue, which, 

 with his majestic form, imparts to him a very 

 imposing appearance. At the beginning of 

 spring, when the severity of winter has passed, 

 the males, after feeding, may be seen congre- 

 gated together on some turf-furze, sheep-fold, 

 or rude paling, pluming their wings, and prac- 

 tising various devices to attract the notice of 

 the female. "Here," says Sir William Jar- 

 dine, " after, perhaps, many battles have been 

 fouglit, and rivals vanquished, the noble, full- 

 dressed blackcock takes his stand, commenc- 

 ing at first dawn ; and where the game is 

 abundant, the hills, on every side, repeat the 

 murmuring call, almost before the utterers can 

 be distinguished. The cocks strut around the 

 spot selected, trailing their wings, inflating 

 the throat and neck, raising and expanding 

 their tails, and pufiing up the plumage of 

 those parts, and the now brilliant wattle above 

 the eyes, displaying the beautifully contrast- 

 ing white under-covers, and imitating, as it 

 were, the attitudes of the little turkey-cock. 

 He is soon heard by the females, who crowd 

 round their lord and master." After incuba- 

 tion is fairly commenced, this fighting among 

 the males is at an end. When the young are 

 hatched, the mother guides them to some high 

 situation where there is plenty of shelter from, 

 long grass and luxuriant herbage, and where 

 an abundance of food can readily be obtained. 

 This consists, in summer, of the seeds of the 

 cranberry, crowberry, and blackberry, &c.; and 

 in the winter, of fir shoots, and the catkins of 

 hazel and birch, which impart to their flesh a 

 peculiar flavour, well known to epicures. 



The black grouse are to be found in many 

 districts of England — on Leith Hill, Ashdowu 

 in St. Leonard's, and in the New and the 

 Bere forests. They likewise abound on the 

 estates of the Marquis of Auglesea, at Beau 

 Dessert, Staffordshire, Barnstable, Devonshire ; 

 and in many of the moor districts of Northum- 

 berland, Durham, Cumberland, Westmorland, 

 and Yorkshire. 



The shooting of the black grouse does not 

 commence till the Ist of September ; and they 

 are esteemed as royal game. They are generally 

 considered as shy birds ; but those who are 

 acquainted with their haunts, find no great 

 difficulty in reaching them. They are partial 



