THE COCK OF THE WOOD. S3l 



because the operation has been delayed till the soil is 

 useless) to hide the shame of former ages. 



The prevailing colour in the male is dusky, waved 

 with cinereous on the upper part of the body, the 

 breast of a deep glossy-green, marked with bronze 

 colour, and the tail black, with two white spots on 

 the tip of each feather. The female is ash-coloured, 

 and variegated and barred with black. The male 

 is two feet nine inches in length, and three feet in 

 the expansion of the wings, and has been met with 

 weighing as much as thirteen pounds, though it does 

 not generally weigh more than eight. The female is 

 considerably smaller, and not above half the size. Both 

 are compact and rather handsome birds, the hen being 

 not unlike the ptarmigan. The legs and tarsi of both 

 are feathered down to the toes, and these are well 

 protected by plates on the upper surfaces, and adapted 

 with knobs on the under for taking hold. 



On the continent there are several species of these 

 birds ; those in the woods of Sweden are large, and 

 there are smaller ones in Norway and Lapland, as 

 far north as the shores of the Arctic ocean. 



These birds are properly birds of the woods ; but 

 they come out to the sheltered moor-lands between the 

 woods in the morning and evening, and retire into the 

 silent depths of the forest during the heat of the day. 

 They scratch the earth for insects and their larvae, and 

 swallow pebbles in the same manner as domestic poul- 

 try. The breeding season begins about the middle of 

 April, at which time they remain much upon the trees. 

 The gestures and love-song of the male are both sin- 

 gular. The middle of the song is like the cry of a 



