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Pra ctical B it d - Keep ing.



must have abundance of room. They want plenty of clean

ground to range over, with dense cover at hand to which they

can retire, so as to feel absolutely safe.


I think an adult wild-caught Capercaillie is about the most

difficult subject to deal with that I have encountered. He will

not stand close confinement at all, and must as soon as possible

be enlarged. The difficulty then is to prevent his being starved

in the midst of plenty, for it is of no use to put food down where

he dare not venture to get it. Hand-reared Capercaillies are

seldom to be had, and it may be taken for granted that a wild-

caught bird will not for a considerable time ever leave the thick

cover, of which there must be plenty, for many yards.


The grain (oats, peas, wheat, barley and a little maize)

must be thrown down with the grit along the outside of the

bushes, the pine branches stuck into the ground and the water-

pens replenished, then the feeder should slip away and the birds

must be left absolutely quiet. It is of course a great thing if

some tame birds are already in the enclosure, as they will inspire

confidence in the new comer. I found it useful to fit up a

“hide ” into which one could get, so that one could judge how

the birds were going on, but the screen must be a good one,

and one must never be detected in it, or when leaving. In time

Capercaillies will tame, and are always most interesting; but a

particularly fine old cock was here almost three years before he

would come out into the open to feed in our presence. It was

a fine sight then to see him in the spring slowly walking round

his hens, at feeding time, with tail spread and wings lowered

and neck-frill standing out stiff. My Capercaillies and Black¬

cocks called freely in the spring, but I never saw anything that

might be called a “ Lek ” in any special place ; perhaps because

the birds were pinioned and the number of hen birds small.

Although my enclosure is roomy (nearly four acres) I could not

keep more than one, or at the most two, Capercaillie cocks,

owing to their pugnacity. Blackgame are not quite so shy and

do not require so much space. But neither will they live long

in such runs as suit ordinary pheasants well. I recollect the

late Lord Lilford telling me that, with all his experience, he

had never been able to keep Capercaillies, and that only in one



