THE WOOD GROUSE OR CAPERCAILZIE. 143 



lakes and morasses with which the northern forests 

 abound ; and to stalk the same in the winter-time 

 with a good rifle is no ignoble amusement. 



" Among other expedients resorted to in the 

 northern forests, for the destruction of the capercailzie, 

 is the following : During the autumnal months, af- 

 ter flushing and dispersing the brood, people place 

 themselves in ambush, and imitate the cry of the old 

 or young birds, as circumstances may require. By 

 thus attracting them to the spot, they are often en- 

 abled to shoot the whole brood in succession. The 

 manner in which this is practised may be better un- 

 derstood from what Mr Greiff says on the subject. 



" * After the brood has been dispersed, and you 

 see the growth they have acquired, the dogs are to 

 be bound up, and a hut formed precisely on the spot 

 where the birds were driven from, in which you 

 place yourself to call ; and you adapt your call ac- 

 cording to the greater or less size of your young 

 birds. When they are as large as the hen, you ought 

 not to begin to call until an hour after they have 

 been flushed ; should you wish to take them alive 

 the common net is placed round him who calls. To- 

 wards the quarter the hen flies, there are seldom to 

 be found any of the young birds, for she tries by her 

 cackling to draw the dogs after her, and from her 

 young ones. As long as you wish to shoot, you 

 must not go out of your hut to collect the birds you 

 have shot. When the hen answers the call, or lows 

 like a cow, she has either got a young one with her 



