GALLINACEOUS BIRDS. igi 



" Their food in the autumn consists of worms, larvae, and the various berries with which the 

 Scandinavian forests abound ; but in the winter, when the snow lies deep on the ground, they subsist 

 chiefly on the tender tops of the birch and alder, especially the latter. I have then also found in their 

 crops the stalks and tops of the blackberry. 



" Even when the Hazel Hen is ' treed,' a practised eye is often required to discover its where- 

 abouts, for it frequently sits so shrouded amongst the branches of an umbrageous pine as not to be 

 readily seen, at least by a casual observer. It is so cunning, moreover, as to regulate its movements by 

 those of the fowler ; for whilst he is on the look-out for the bird on one side of the tree, it creeps to 

 the opposite, leaving during its progress little more than its head exposed, and that only for the 

 purpose of keeping the enemy in sight. 



" The usual way of shooting the Hazel Hen in Scandinavia is without any dog, and solely with the 

 ■kid of the so-called hjerp-pipa, or pipe. This implement, which is much less in size than one's finger, is 

 constructed of wood or metal, or, it may be, the ' wing-bone of a Black Cock.' It produces a soft, 

 whistling sound, that may be varied according to the call of the bird. Such a pipe may be readily 

 manufactured. Often, indeed," continues Mr. Lloyd, " when we have accidentally met with a Hazel 

 Hen has my man with his knife alone made one out of a sapling of a pithy tree, and that in the course 

 of a very few minutes. 



" Provided with this implement, the sportsman traverses the forest in silence, and when he has 

 succeeded in flushing the brood he, after a time, begins to lacka, when one or other of the birds is 

 pretty sure to respond, or, it may be, fly directly towards him, and in the end he usually succeeds in 

 shooting the whole or greater part of them." 



M. Wilhelm von Wright speaks of the Hazel Hen as an exceedingly amusing bird in an aviary. 

 At first it will not eat, but endeavours to hide itself in a corner ; the best way is therefore to supply it 

 with food and water and leave it to itself. Red whortle-berries and juniper-berries are the best for it at 

 first, but afterwards it will eat hempseed, barley, buckwheat, and other grain. To induce it to drink, 

 some berries should be put into the vessel containing water; it will also eat meat, raw or boiled. 

 Dry sand should be placed in a box, as it "dusts" itself daily, if provided with this, especially should 

 the sun shine, it makes a hole with its beak in the sand, which it throws over its body. Afterwards it 

 lies first on one side and then on the other, or on its back, with eyes half closed, and often mounts 

 on some part of the coop and whistles. 



THE PRAIRIE HEN, OR PINN.A.TED GROUSE. 

 The Prairie Hen, or Pinnated Grouse {Tctmo cupido, or Cupidonia Jmcricana), a North 

 American species very nearly related to the above birds, represents a group recognisable by two long 

 tufts, each composed of about eighteen slender feathers, that hang down on each side of tlie neck and 

 cover bare patches of skin which indicate the position of bladder-like cavities connected with the 

 windpipe and capable of being inflated. The sexes are similarly coloured, but are readily dis- 

 tinguished by the inferior size of the tufts on the head of the female. The feathers on the mantle are 

 black, striped with pale red and white, while diose on the under side are striped light brown and white. 

 The quills are greyish bro\vn, with black shafts, and spotted with red on the outer web ; tlie tail- 

 feathers dark greyish brown, tipped with dirty white ; the regions of the cheeks and throat are 

 yellowish ; the belly is of a whitish shade, and a line under the eye brown ; the long throat-feathers 

 that form the tufts are dark browi on the outer and pale yellowish red on the inner web. The eye 

 is reddish brown, the brow bright scarlet, beak dark horn-grey, and bare parts of the foot and throat 

 orange-yellow. This species is eigliteen inches long, and its breadth thirty inches ; the wing measures 

 five inches and five-sixths, and the tail four inches and a half 



