86 GAME BIRDS AND SHOOTING-SKETCHES 



before I had gone three steps forward, up into the air 

 again shot the little demon of mischief, and hovered 

 around screaming in his delight at his own fun. Having 

 no dog with me I was returning from fishing I searched 

 for a long time in the bushes, hoping to catch the Black- 

 cock and see how he had been struck. He must have 

 crawled away under some root, as I could not find him. 

 The presence of a Hawk has an almost paralysing effect on 

 any of the Grouse kind, and if they have been, as this bird 

 was, driven into thick scrub, they will sooner submit to be 

 picked up by hand than trust themselves on the wing again. 



So long as a sufficiency of food is obtainable, a change 

 of ground to these birds is not necessary. In foreign 

 countries, small and partial migrations, if they may be so 

 called, occur where the winters are so severe as to bury 

 their feeding-grounds too deeply beneath the frozen snow. 

 Long-continued feeding on fir-tops and birch-tops becomes 

 too insipid for palates that are ever in search of variety, 

 and they forsake their accustomed haunts in big packs, 

 chiefly composed of cocks, and journey to a distance where 

 a change of diet can be obtained. They are amongst the 

 hardiest birds that exist, and often are found during 

 winter as far north as 68, if not further, in company with 

 the Siberian Jay and the Hooded Crow. In this country 

 the birds now and again change their ground for short 

 periods, but do not migrate. 



The flight of Blackgame is both easy and rapid, being- 

 less heavy than that of the Capercaillie, though at a 

 distance Greyhens are easily mistaken for the hens of that 

 species. There is a certain ease and grace about the beats 

 of the wing, followed by the long sail through the air, that 



