CAPERCAILLIE 23 



This naturally leads to unpopularity, and the owners and 

 tillers of the soil having got it into their heads that he is 

 a scoundrel, he has no one to love him but the sportsman, 

 who exhibits his affection for him by shooting him with a 

 chokebore and Xo. 4 shot. 



On the whole, Perthshire and the surrounding counties, 

 where the bird exists in numbers, are proud of their 

 acquisition, and the Caper there thrives and remains ; 

 for in every case where they are turned down, as before 

 remarked, they do not thrive but gradually disappear. 

 In other places where they would do well, Speyside for 

 instance, the proprietors will not have them at any price, 

 on account of their alleged destructiveness, and use every 

 means in their power to keep them from becoming 

 established. Some big game-preservers object to them 

 on the ground that they will drive off and kill, if they 

 catch them, any cock Pheasants that come near their 

 haunts during the fighting-season. One can well believe 

 this ; but there is that little word " if," which is small 

 but means so much. I think most people would say 

 that a cock Pheasant is quite able to take care of himself 

 against any bird, as his running-powers and agility far 

 exceed those of the Caper. Still the idea has gained 

 ground and has taken a strong hold in the minds of 

 some old keepers in Perthshire, at any rate ; and they 

 have so persuaded their masters, who probably think that 

 because a keeper has been keeper all his life he naturally 

 knows all about them, that they invariably give orders 

 that any one of their men who finds a Caper's nest shall 

 at once put his foot upon it and destroy the eggs. This 

 is decidedly rough on the poor Caper, for most sportsmen 



