BLACKGAME 107 



wounded than of Capercaillie hens. It is very curious 

 that one species of Game should be so much less liable to 

 it than any other, and that, comparatively speaking, it 

 should occur ten times as frequently amongst Capercaillie 

 and Pheasants as amongst the birds in question. I have 

 only seen about ten of these Greyhens which had assumed 

 the cock's plumage and which had been killed in Great 

 Britain, and two of these are given in the illustration on 

 page 102. The dark bird was shot by Captain Barlow of 

 my regiment, at Lendrick, near Callauder, X.B., and I had 

 a good hunt amongst a pile of Grouse and bleeding Hares 

 to discover the bird. He said he had shot a " funny 

 young Blackcock with a lot of grey feathers in its 

 plumage ! " That was enough to send me flying off to 

 rummage amongst the spoils, but, before I had got half- 

 way through the bag, it suddenly dawned upon me he 

 was having one of his usual little jokes at my expense, 

 which my brother officers, and he in particular, occasion- 

 ally indulge in, knowing my propensities. However I 

 soon forgave him when I discovered the object of my 

 search. 1 



1 A bird of very great rarity is the variety in which a Blackcock as- 

 sumes to any extent the plumage of the Greyhen. The example which I 

 have figured on page 103 is, I believe, unique, and, with the exception of two 

 cock Pheasants undergoing the same change, is the only example of this extra- 

 ordinary variety I have ever heard of. This bird was killed in Russia, in 

 November 1869, according to the label attached to it ; the condition of the 

 plumage bears this out, as it is not like that of a Blackcock killed in August, 

 only the heads resembling each other. The plumage of the Greyhen will be 

 seen intermixing throughout the plumage with that of the Blackcock. No 

 account has to my knowledge been given in any work on Natural History 

 concerning this variety ; the extreme rarity of its occurrence has probably 

 caused it to escape the attention of naturalists. 



