106 GAME BIRDS AND SHOOTING-SKETCHES 



I have selected the specimen that is drawn in the illustra- 

 tion on page 68 from amongst some twenty that I have 

 seen, as it is the only one where the markings of the Grouse 

 are distinctly contrasted with those of the Blackgame. 



As in the case of the Capercaillie, any form of variety 

 in Blackgame is extremely rare, and I have never had the 

 good fortune to see any more advanced in albinism than 

 the specimen of which I give an engraving on page 56, 

 and the pale hen, with Mr. Rothschild's varieties, 

 which is from my own collection. 1 Even in Norway, 

 Sweden, and Russia, w T here vast numbers of the birds are 

 slain annually, it is very rarely that varieties occur, 

 though at one museum in Norway (Bergen) there are no 

 less than eight or ten of these pied birds. Some years 

 ago, when I w r as driving to fish at Loch Freuchie, a Grey- 

 hen, whose wings were nearly pure white, rose from the 

 side of the road and flew oft' in the direction of Amulree. 

 I made inquiries afterwards, but it was not shot that year 

 on any of the adjoining shootings. 



Although, of course, the number of Greyhens in Scot- 

 land far exceeds the number of Capercaillie hens, I have 

 noticed that it is very much rarer for the former to assume 

 the plumage of the male than the latter. The fact of 

 being injured in the ovaries, or diseased from other causes, 

 does not necessarily imply that the bird will change her 

 feathers to those of the male, even to a slight degree, and 

 Greyhens prove this, being often killed when barren, or 

 injured by previous wounds, without displaying any signs 

 of change, though a far greater number must be annually 



1 Two Blackcocks were killed in December 1890, in Lanarkshire, by Mr. 

 J. Allan, of Glasgow, which were speckled all over with white feathers. 



