274 
HAZEL GROUS. 
the ends : the vent white : the tail clouded above 
with hoary, white, and brown : the legs and beak 
black. 
This species is a native of the woods of Germany, 
particularly those at the foot of the Alps j and the 
high mountains of Silesia, Poland, Sweden, and 
Russia ; in the latter place not very abundant : in 
the Gulf of Genoa it is found in the greatest pro- 
fusion. Although so common on the Continent, it 
does not appear ever to have been captured in 
England. Its food consists principally of the cat- 
kins of the hazel and birch, also the berries of 
juniper, firs, and other evergreens, but when con- 
fined it will eat grain. Its flesh is .more esteemed 
than any other of the genus, and from its superior 
flavour it has received its specific name. Its man- 
ners are similar to those of the preceding species. 
The female generally deposits several eggs, which 
vary from ten to sixteen in number, and are of a 
whitish yellow, irregularly spotted with brown- 
yellow; they are hatched in about three weeks, 
and the young run about as soon as they obtain 
their liberty. The catching of these birds is ac- 
companied with difficulty, from the inaccessible 
places they inhabit ; therefore the hunters have 
recourse to a kind of bird-call to allirre them from 
their hiding-places. 
