Gallince 171 



pure black below with green-glossed chest ; it has 

 a heavy and deceptive flight, much swifter than it 

 appears, though when the young have just left the 

 nest the cock is content to move from branch to 

 branch near the ground and act in company with the 

 hen as guardian. The six or more eggs are deposited 

 in a hollow scraped in the ground under shelter of 

 a bush or log or at the base of a tree; they are 

 yellowish with small close-set orange markings or 

 blotches. The food consists mainly of Scotch-fir shoots 

 and berries, and in part of worms and insects, so that 

 conifer woods are necessary to the bird's well-being. The 

 cock is polygamous and in spring performs antics before 

 the hen, which Scandinavians call his " lek " or " spel "; 

 these he accompanies by hoarse noises slightly remi- 

 niscent of similar sounds made by Pigeons. The hen 

 is mottled with brown, buff, and white, the breast being 

 of a brighter buff. 



The Black Grouse (Lyrurus tetrix) may be shortly 

 passed over, as the habits are much as in the last 

 species. The colour, however, is black throughout, 

 except for the white wing-bar and coverts under the 

 widely forked tail, the female being red-brown with 

 black markings. This species eschews thick woods, 

 but loves bracken-covered slopes and rough damp 

 country of many descriptions ; it eats insects, berries, 

 seeds, and buds of various plants and does not restrict 

 itself to fir-shoots ; at harvest-time it cannot be kept 

 away from the corn "stocks " in the fields, if any be 

 near. In spring it utters a softer note than the Wood- 

 grouse, and when sitting in a tree, as it often does, 

 gives a still better imitation of a Pigeon's coo. The 

 scanty nest is in heather or rough herbage ; the eggs 



