38 



THE OOLOGIST. 



cock descends from his perch and joins his 

 female friends on the ground. 



The Capercali has, like all other Grouse, 

 certain places which may be called his play- 

 ing grounds. These are, however, of some 

 little extent, and unless much pursued his 

 call may be heard in the spring year after 

 year. Several Capercali may be heard at 

 the same time on the playing ground. The 

 young or birds of the preceding year are 

 not allowed by the old ones to play, but 

 should they get killed, the young usually 

 take their phices. Combats, I presume, 

 not unfrequently occur, though I can find 

 no account of one ever having been observ- 

 edi The hen bird makes a nest on the 

 ground and lays from six to twelve eggs, 

 measuring 2.25 by 1.6G inches in length 

 and breadth respectively. They are pale 

 reddish yellow-brown, entirely spotted with 

 two shades of deeper brown. It is said to 

 sit four weeks, and the young keep with the 

 hen until the approach of winter ; the young 

 cocks however separate from the mother 

 before the hens. When the female com- 

 mences sitting, the cock deserts her and hides 

 among the brushwood while moulting, the 

 female alone hatching and rearing the young. 

 Mr. Lloyd says : "Except when the snow 

 is deep, the Capercali is much iipon the 

 ground in the day-time ; very commonly, 

 however, he sits in the pines, sometimes 

 on the very uppei'most branches. During 

 the night he generally roosts in the trees, 

 but if the winter be very severe he not im- 

 frequently buries himself in the snow. Con- 

 sidering the large size of the bird, his flight 

 is not particularly heavy or noisy. Indeed 

 I have not only seen the Capercali at a very 

 considerable height in the air, but have 

 known him to take a flight of several miles 

 at a time." 



The cocks do not attain their growth \m- 

 til the third year or upwards, from which 

 it may be inferred that they live to a great 

 age. The old ones are easily distinguished 

 by their large size and glossy plumage, and 

 the former depends iipon the latitude in 

 whieh they are found. Pennant, in his 

 *' British Zoology," says : " This species is 



found in no other part of Great Britain than 

 the Highlands of Scotland north of Juven- 

 ess, and is very rare even in those parts." 

 In 1836 Mr. Lloyd procured for Sir T. 

 Fowle Buxton forty-nine Capercali, male 

 and female, which were afterward present- 

 ed to his friend Lord Breadalbane, by whom 

 they were reared with such success that 

 about Taymouth castle they became as com- 

 mon as the Black Cock, and spread all over 

 the wooded parts of the Highlands as far 

 as Aberdeen. They have grown so tame 

 that a carriage may be driven under the 

 trees on whicii the liens are perched without 

 their taking the least notice. The flesh of 

 the Capercali is in considerable request for 

 the table. It is more palatable during the 

 autumn months, when it feeds mostly on 

 berries and like fruits, than in the winter, 

 as its flesh then partakes of the flavor of 

 the pine leaves on which it feeds. In 

 Wermeland and the adjacent country, it is 

 a standing dish in winter at the houses of 

 the gentry, Avho usually lay in an ample 

 Supply of these birds at the setting in of the 

 frost. On the occasion of births, mar- 

 riages and deaths with the peasantry, the 

 Capercali is looked upon as a needful addi- 

 tion to the feast. With them it is eaten 

 simply boiled, or first par-boiled and after- 

 ward roasted as hard as a stone, in which 

 state it will keep for weeks or months. 



Could this noble bird be introduced into 

 this country, what a welcome addition to 

 our game birds it would be, but such an 

 luidertaking is improbable if not impossi- 

 ble. 



The Guacharo of Baron Humboldt, a 

 bird inhabiting South America, is a singu- 

 lar type of the Caprimulgidce, from the 

 young of which large quantities of oil are 

 gathered by the natives every year. These 

 young birds possess a very fatty substance, 

 which is melted, forming a very pure, in- 

 odorous oil, used for various purposes. 

 They nest in funnel-shaped holes bored in 

 the sides of precipitous cliffs. 



