9390 Notices of Books. 



collect together, the wood seems full of them, and in some places 

 hundreds may be put up in a day's work. In summer the greater 

 number of the males and some of the females ascend to near the limits 

 of the forests where the hills attain a great elevation, and may often be 

 seen on the grassy slopes a considerable distance above. In autumn they 

 resort to those parts of the forests where the ground is thickl}' covered 

 with decayed leaves, under which they search for grubs ; and descend 

 lower and lower as winter sets in, and the ground becomes frozen or 

 covered with snow. If the season be severe, and the ground covered 

 to a great depth, they collect in the woods which face to the south or 

 east, where it soon melts in the more exposed parts, or descend much 

 lower down the hill, where it is not so deep, and thaws sufficiently to 

 allow them to lay bare the earth under the bushes and sheltered places. 

 Many, particularly females and young birds, resort to the neighbour- 

 hood of the villages situated up in the woods, and may often be seen 

 in numbers in the fields. Still in the severest weather, when fall after 

 fall has covered the ground to a great depth in the higher forests, many 

 remain there the whole winter ; these are almost all males, and pro- 

 bably old birds. In spring all in the lower parts gradually ascend as 

 the snow disappears. In the autumnal and winter months numbers 

 are generally collected together in the same quarter of the forest, 

 though often so widely scattered that each bird appears to be alone. 

 Sometimes you may walk for a mile through a wood without seeing 

 one, and suddenly come to some part where, within the compass of a 

 few hundred yards, upwards of a score will get up in succession ; at 

 another time, or in another forest, they will be found dispersed over 

 every part, one getting up here, another there, two or three further on, 

 and so on for miles. The females keep more together than the males ; 

 they also descend lower down the hills, and earlier and more generally 

 leave the sheltered woods for exposed parts or the vicinity of villages 

 on the approach of winter. Both sexes are often found separately in 

 considerable numbers. On the lower part, or exposed side of the hill, 

 scores of females and young birds may be met with, without a single 

 old male ; while higher up, or on the sheltered side, none but males 

 may be found. In summer they are more separated, but do not keep in 

 individual pairs, several being often found together. It may be questioned 

 whether they do pair or not in places where they are at all numerous ; 

 if they do, it would appear that the union is dissolved as soon as the 

 female begins to sit, for the male seems to pay no attention to her 

 whatever whilst sitting, or the young brood when hatched, and is 

 seldom found with them. The call of the monaul is a loud plaintive 



