CAPERCAILLIE 



Te trao Uroga llu s 



HE Capercaillie is a resident in certain parts of Scotland, 

 and is chiefly confined to the counties of Perth and Forfar ; 

 but though it has been introduced in the Moray Basin, in 

 many different situations, apparently perfectly suited to its 

 habits, it has not increased its range to any great extent. 

 In England and Ireland it is not found. 



The Capercaillie is almost exclusively a native of the 



pine forests, but is occasionally found far from its favourite haunts, especially 

 when the berries of the cranberry, bilberry, crowberry, and such like plants are 

 plentiful, and during the breeding-season it frequents the plantations of young 

 firs where there is plenty of cover, such as furze, bracken, and brambles. It 

 prefers those parts of the wood where there is plenty of water, and is seldom 

 seen far from it during the breeding-season. It is very wary, and usually 

 flies away from the far side of the fir-tree in which it is perched, often 

 preventing a shot being fired at it. The female is not nearly such a shy 

 bird as the male, and may often be approached within a short distance. 



During the winter, when the ground is covered with snow, the food of the 

 Capercaillie chiefly consists of the spines of the Scotch fir. In summer various 

 ground-berries form their chief means of sustenance, together with insects, 

 larvae, and the buds of various trees, and in the autumn they descend on the 

 corn-fields to pick up the scattered grain from the stubbles. The flesh of the 

 cock Capercaillie savours very strongly of turpentine, while that of the 

 female is usually much more palatable. The Capercaillie is very powerful on 

 the wing, though it seldom flies long distances at a time, and reminds one 

 rather of a huge Blackcock. When suddenly flushed it gets up with a 

 tremendous noise and hurries off through the wood. 



In April and May the males devote themselves to courting and waging 

 war with each other. There are regular places in the forests where they repair 



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