346 SPORT IN EUROPE 



must now enumerate. These are the capercailzie, the blackcock, 

 the mountain partridge and the ptarmigan. A note is given on 

 each of these. 



The capercailzie, unfortunately rare nowadays, is the finest 



feathered game of our forests. It is found in the pine 

 Capercailzie. • i i i 



forests at altitudes of 4,000 or 5,000 feet, m both the 



Alps and the Jura. The principal months for shooting it are 



September and October. 



The black grouse must be sought in the limits of our Alpine 



forests, from 5,000 to 9,000 feet high, but will not be 

 Black Grouse. 



found in the Jura, where all attempts to establish it 



have proved a failure. 



Like the preceding, the mountain partridge is found only in 



the Alps. It is generally necessary to climb above the 



„ . , main belt of forests, in order to come upon the flocks 



Partridge. ^ 



of this partridge, which is difficult to shoot on account 



of its rapid change of locality. In Valais it comes down to the 



edge of the vineyards. 



Like the preceding two birds, the ptarmigan is also found in 



the Alpine ranges only, and on certain mountains it is 

 Ptarmig-an. 



by no means uncommon. It is a true bird of the 



higher ranges, passing its existence at altitudes of 5,000 to 10,000 



feet. 



In a country in which the soil is so rough, it is not to be 



expected that shooting in the lowlands would give much sport. 



The species that, properly speaking, constitute the game of such 



