CAPERCAILZIE SHOOTING. 4"jo 



like partridges, in stubbles : black-game are very 

 destructive to crops of grain. Red grouse do not 

 frequent woods. Their nests are generally found 

 in heather ; those of black-game in rushy fields or 

 plantations. The eggs of the former are often 

 taken by persons collecting plovers 1 eggs ; and as 

 they are easily found, the temptation to pilfer but 

 too often presents itself. A child may thus do 

 more mischief than the most accomplished poacher. 

 Loiterers at this season should be watched. 



Blackcocks, during winter, associate together 

 aloof from the grey-hens and red-grouse. The 

 grey-hens also pack distinct from the cocks. 



Bed grouse are never found on moors, where 

 water does not lie within a convenient distance in 

 seasons of drought. Black-game seem to disregard 

 this inconvenience ; probably, being larger birds, 

 they can endure a longer flight in search of water. 



Black-game are scattered over the whole of the 

 North of Europe. They are found, more or less 

 abundant, in all the Northern, in most of the Mid- 

 land, and in some of the Southern counties of Eng- 

 land. Bed grouse are not met with further south 

 than Derbyshire, Cheshire, and Staffordshire. Both 

 abound in Scotland : and in Ireland they are more 

 plentiful than in England. The red grouse only 

 is met with in Wales. 



Similar to the blackcock, in many respects is the 

 capercailzie, or cock of the wood, once the native, 

 and now the denizen of the Highland forests. The 

 capercailzie cock weighs sixteen pounds. Speaking 



