-je THE HAZEL GROUSE 



allowed by all to be an authority. This Is 

 what he has to tell us (after saying of the 

 black-game that they haunt the margins of 

 the open morasses where they can run out 

 of the w^ood to feed or bask amone the 

 patches of heather or willow) : — '' In similar 

 localities, but rarely given to quitting the 

 shelter of the trees, we find the beautiful 

 little Iijerpe (hazel hen, gellnotte), the 

 smallest of the grouse tribe, with flesh as 

 white as that of a partridge. Singularly 

 cunning or lucky must he Indeed be who 

 finds a covey of these birds out In the 

 open. Directly they are flushed they take 

 to the trees, and there sit motionless, utter- 

 ing at times a faint shrill whistle, which 

 often betrays them. For unpractised eyes 

 they are not too easy to see. I recommend 

 the sportsman to put old-fashioned scruples 



