135 



THE CAPERCAILE. 



Tetrao xu-ogallus. Linn. 



This fine bird is nowhere found in great numbers.* 

 It has a home in all parts of Europe where the ground 

 is not one unbroken level ; for hills and uplands seem 

 to be the necessary condition of its existence. In the 

 coldest regions even it is indigenous, and in Siberia it 

 thrives and is met with frequently. 



The bird, therefore, is a hardy animal, and its mode- 

 rate increase is not owing to ungeniality of climate, or 

 any difficulty of finding healthful nourishment. Many 

 have been brought of late years to Scotland, and been 

 turned out in the woods in the hope that these would 

 gradually be peopled with them. But, I believe, the 

 anticipated increase has not answered the expectations 

 raised. There are several reasons which prevent their 



* Also called Cock of the Wood, Cock of the Mountain, In some 

 years two, in others fire, sometimes eleven cock birds were shot in a 

 district, and at present the Electorate of Cassel is weU stocked with them. ■ 

 In the Oden "Wald the capercaile seems to hare abounded in 1651. 

 Eight birds were forwarded to Frankfurt on the Maine as a contribution 

 to the feasts held there on the occasion of the Emperor's coronation, 

 K 4 



