GERMANY 165 



brought the bird down during the following one. Some forest 

 tracts are always preferred by the hens, and in these, if well stocked, 

 cocks congregate up to fifteen or twenty at a time ; this of course 

 greatly increases the difficulty of stalking. 



The "small cock," as the mountaineer calls the black grouse, 

 can be found in most forested regions, as also in the Alps. In the 



mountains, where hard work is the essence of sport, the 



Blackcock. 

 "men prize him greatly, partly by reason of his being- 

 warier and more difficult to get than his larger cousin, and partly 

 because of his fine lyre-shaped tail feathers, with which the hunters 

 adorn their own hats as well as those of their sweethearts. The mating 

 song is rather like the loud cooing of a wood-pigeon, accompanied 

 by sundry violent hisses, and can be heard at a great distance ; 

 but the bird's eyes and ears are first-rate, and he is constantly 

 on the watch. They call and they fight mostly on the ground, 

 generally in the open, the hens looking on from some adjacent 

 tree. In the plains sportsmen often use dug-outs in the ground 

 covered with branches and loopholed, but as the hunter must hide 

 himself in the dark and wait for some two hours, it is rather tedious. 

 The grand sport is stalking with a rifie, but this requires creeping like 

 a Red Indian, and shooting like a Queen's prizeman at Bisley. In 

 the Alps the pursuit is still harder, as the bird takes high altitudes, 

 which are often covered with deep snow at this season of the year. 

 Mating and close time are the same with both birds. 



Wild fowl afford good sport on most continental lakes and ponds. 

 Duck are shot in July, when the young are just able to fiy ; 

 they are quick on the wing and wary. Lanes are generally cut 



