BRITISH GAME-BIRDS. 177 



refuge in them in the hope of escaping from the 

 conquerors of their land. 



A few trees having been felled, the resinous sap 

 oozed out freely, and the wood fired when the wind 

 was blowing in the right direction. Then the whole 

 forest was on fire. Unless one has wandered in old 

 fir-woods (we mean those that are now called old), 

 one would hardly credit how resinous it all is, it 

 oozes down the trunks, dropping off in great half- 

 fluid tears of resin on the fir-needles, which are dry 

 as tinder, and from a foot to a couple of feet in 

 depth; snap a bough off, and you will see how it 

 will bleed " turcumtine," as the foresters have it. 

 No wonder the fire rages when it once gets hold. 

 I have seen this on a small scale when it cleared 

 the hillside; and excepting for the whortle-bushes 

 and brambles, that hillside is bare now. 



Birds of the same species, and even birds from 

 the same brood, vary greatly, and the capercaillie 

 is no exception to this ; for there is as much differ- 

 ence in the size and weight of these birds as there 

 is in large and small turkeys. To illustrate my 

 meaning, last year, 1892, I had the good fortune 

 to purchase one of the finest cock capercaillies in 



M 



