Capercaillies 285 



largely oil' grain, seeds, berries, and buds, while the young are fed mainly on the 

 larvae of ants and other insects. The male Black Grouse is polygamous, that is, 

 associates with several females, and for their edification often goes through many 

 curious antics, such as strutting to and fro with trailing wings and expanded tail. 

 If a rival male appears, a fierce conflict is sure to ensue, this lasting until both are 

 thoroughly exhausted or one or the other vanquished. The nest is usually a 

 slight affair, placed under a bush or bunch of weeds and grass; and the eggs, six 

 to ten in number, are yellowish white with rich brown spots. The female per- 

 forms the entire task of incubating the eggs and rearing the young, the males 

 betaking themselves away as soon as incubation commences. The other best- 

 known species is the Caucasian Black Grouse (L. mlokosiewiczi), which is found 

 only in the Caucasian Mountains; it is a smaller bird and has the plumage black 

 throughout. 



Capercaillies. Also confined to the Old World are the Capercaillies (Tetrao), 

 of which four species and a number of hybrids are known. They are large birds, 

 the males being thirty or thirty-five inches long and weighing ten or twelve 

 pounds, while the females are some twelve inches shorter and only weigh four or 

 five pounds. The tail is composed of eighteen feathers, as in the Black Grouse, 

 but it is the middle instead of the outer pair that is longest, thus producing 

 a rounded or slightly wedge-shaped tail. The Capercaillies are inhabitants 

 mainly of coniferous forests, feeding, especially during the winter, on the tender 

 shoots of the pine and spruce, but at other seasons they search for seeds, fruits, 

 grain, etc., often at considerable distance from the woods. The male is polyga- 

 mous, and at the beginning of the nesting season mounts to the top of some 

 tall tree and utters his loud note, which is a call to the females and a challenge 

 to other males. Should another male approach, a battle is certain, which often 

 lasts until both are bleeding and torn, and so exhausted that they may frequently 

 be captured in the hand. Ordinarily, the male is extremely wary and although 

 so large and heavy flies with little or no noise and very rapidly. The best-known 

 species is the Common Capercaillie (T. urogallus), the male of which is dark gray 

 above, with the wings brown speckled with black, while the chest is lustrous 

 green and the abdomen black with white spots. The female is much barred 

 and spotted with tawny red, black, and white, with the throat and breast reddish 

 and the tail dark reddish brown with black bars. This species is found in the 

 pine forests of Europe and northern and central Asia, being originally also a 

 native of the British Islands, where it was entirely exterminated about the middle 

 of the last century, but was later introduced from Sweden and is now firmly 

 established and abundant in many parts of north Britain and appears to be 

 gradually spreading to new territory. It frequently crosses with the Black 

 Grouse, and the male hybrid is hardly to be distinguished from the Gray-hen 

 except in size. It has also been known to cross with the English Pheasant and 

 the Willow Ptarmigan. The handsomest member of the genus is the Ural 

 Capercaillie (T. uralensis) of the Ural Mountains. It is similar to the last but 

 paler above, with the wings and shoulders light reddish brown and the lower 

 parts mainly white. In northeast Siberia its place is taken by a slender billed 



