CAPERCAILLTE. 441 



species from Kamtschatka under the name of T. kamtschatlcus , which is 

 somewhat intermediate both in comparative measurements and colour. 



The Capercaillie is almost exclusively a bird of the pine-forests ; but it is 

 sometimes found at a distance from its favourite haunts, occasionally 

 feeding amongst oaks or birches, especially where ground-fruits of various 

 kinds are luxuriant. It prefers those forests where swampy places abound, 

 and is seldom seen during the breeding-season far from water. It is a 

 very conspicuous bird, and may often be observed from a great distance 

 perched upon the extreme summit of a pine tree. It is very wary, and in 

 Siberia the hunters are obliged to have dogs trained to bark at the foot of 

 the tree in order to attract its attention and allow them to creep up within 

 shot. They are not quite so timid when perched on the lower branches, 

 and I have sometimes passed very near them when sledging through the 

 forests over the snow. The female is much less wary than the male, 

 apparently trusting in some measure for protection to the unobtrusive 

 colour of her plumage. 



During the long Siberian winters, when the ground is covered for seven 

 months or more with six feet of snow, the Capercaillie feeds almost entirely 

 on the spines of the Scotch fir and the Siberian cedar. As soon as the 

 summer comes the berries of the cranberry, whortleberry, crowberry, and 

 bilberry, that have been preserved during the winter under the frozen snow, 

 afford it abundant food until insects and their larvae abound, which, with 

 the tender shoots and buds of various trees, are its principal food uutil 

 the strawberries and the cloudberries are ripe enough to tempt it to change 

 its diet again. It also feeds upon buckwheat, corn, and acorns. The hen 

 Capercaillie is so much superior to the cock when brought to table that 

 there can be little doubt that she eats very few of the pine-needles which 

 give to the cock bird a strong flavour of turpentine. She probably obtains 

 most of her food on the ground, whilst the cock, living so much in the 

 trees, is often tempted to feed there even in summer. 



The Capercaillie is a bird of powerful flight, though it is seldom seen on 

 the wing for long together, except on the rare occasions when it crosses a 

 deep valley from one hill-side to another. The motion of its wings is 

 rapid, steady, and not particularly noisy, except when it gets up suddenly : 

 on such occasions there is noise enough, and the contemplative traveller 

 who flushes a Capercaillie unexpectedly at his feet as he strolls on mountain 

 or moor may be excused if some seconds elapse before he has re-collected 

 his scattered senses and realized the fact that the world has not come to 

 an end. 



The breeding-habits of this bird are very interesting. Although the 

 males are said to exceed the females in number, the Capercaillie is a poly- 

 gamous bird, and for two months in the year, April and May, the males 

 devote themselves almost entirely to love and to war. The scene of opera- 



