THE FEATHERED GAME OF NORWAY. 163 



as the colour of their plumage bears a great resem- 

 blance to the bark of the tree, it is only by scanning 

 each bough in succession from one end to the other 

 that they can be detected. A friend of mine has 

 assured me that he has remained under a tree for 

 a quarter of an hour in which he knew that a bird had 

 perched, before he could distinguish it. 



They are generally to be found in the thickest 

 and most retired glades in the forest, where they 

 are but little exposed to disturbance ; for they appear to 

 love quiet. If it were not for this propensity they 

 would be exposed to countless enemies, as a more 

 stupid bird, perhaps, does not exist. 



From the above description it may, I think, be 

 inferred that hjerpe shooting does not offer great at- 

 tractions. In fact I should pronounce it to be ex- 

 tremely stupid and unprofitable work. 



That these birds would thrive admirably in some of 

 the largest of our Scotch forests, or even in parks in 

 England where they would not be exposed to disturbance, 

 I fully believe, and in this opinion Professor Kasch 

 confirms me. The great difficulty, however, seems to 

 be to get them there. In the first place, it is no easy 

 thing to procure the eggs, or, if procured, to hatch them. 

 The above-named gentleman told me that, when a 

 young man, he has repeatedly made the experiment, 

 but never succeeded in bringing them up. 



