CAPERCAILLIE 33 



woods; and should he be seated on a tree -top. which 

 is very often the case in the winter mornings, and the 

 weather be fine and frosty, he will not take long to deter- 

 mine which of two evils is the less, and will decide in 

 favour of the orthodox clamorous boy, who generally 

 begins to yell as he sees a gloomy form vanishing behind 

 him, and will soon make himself scarce, under the impres- 

 sion that the next parish is close quarters for the modern 

 shooting-iron ! But the boy's frantic cries and waving 

 of arms are of little use, even should he see the bird 

 approaching, for when the Caper, like the Blackcock, has 

 once made up his mind as to what line he is going to 

 follow, it needs a small army of beaters to turn him, such 

 as he never has to encounter. 



When such incidents occur, it generally happens that 

 the birds, having taken in the situation, sit still on the 

 trees or on the ground, as the case may be, and remain till 

 the beaters make their appearance, and then they fly 

 forward, and either alight within a hundred yards or so of 

 the guns, whose position they know exactly, and from 

 whom they break back over the heads of the beaters when 

 the proximity of men on both sides becomes disagreeable, 

 or they will wheel in their flight, soaring out to either 

 flank, and pass away back, re-entering the wood at 

 some point where they know they will not again be 

 disturbed. 



The foregoing remarks apply rather more to the cock 

 birds, for the hens are at all times less wary and suspicious, 

 though occasionally they may become quite as cute as the 

 other sex, if frequently driven. But it is more common 

 for them to come forward, and on sighting the guns, of 



D 



