276 



THE BLACK GROUSE. 



THE BLACK GROUSE. 



The weight of an old black cock is nearly four pounds; but thai 

 of the female is not often more than two. The plumage of the whok 

 body of the male is black, and glossed over the neck and rump with 

 a shining blue. The coverts of the wings are of a dusky brown : the 

 four first quill-feathers are black, the next white at the bottom. The 

 lower half, and the tips, of the secondary feathers, are white. The 

 inner coverts of the wings are white. The tail is much forked: the 



exterior feathers bend 

 greatly outward, and 

 their ends seem as if 

 cut off. The colors 

 of the female differ 

 considerably from 

 those of the male: 

 the tail also is but 

 slightly forked. 



They are partial to 

 mountainous and 

 woody situations, far 

 removed from the 

 habitations of men. 



Their food is vari- 

 ous; but principal. y 

 consists of the moun 

 tain fruits and ber- 

 ries, and, in winter, 

 of the tops of heath. 

 It is somewhat re- 

 markable that cher- 

 ries and peas are fatal 

 to these birds. They 

 perch and roost in 

 the same manner as 

 the Pheasant. 



The Black Grouse 

 never pair ; but in 

 pipring the males assemble at their accustomed resorts on the tops of 

 heathy mountains, where they crow and clap their wings. The 

 females, at this signal, resort to them. The males are very quarrel- 

 some, and fight together like game-cocks. On these occasions they 

 i.re so inattentive to their own safety, that two or three have some- 

 times been killed at one shot : and instances have occurred of their 

 having been knocked down with a stick. 



'The female forms an artless nest on the ground; and lays six or 

 eight eggs, of a dull yellowish white color, marked with numerous very 

 small ferruginous specks, and, towards the smaller end, with some 

 blotches of the same. These are hatched late in the summer. The 

 young males quit the parents in the beginning of winter, and keep 

 together in flocks of seven or eight till the spring. 



BLACK GROUSE. MALE. 



