BLACK GROUSE. 437 



IS just before daybreak. A warm glow ligbts up the eastern heavens, and 

 the light breezes of early morning rustle through the pine-branches ; sur- 

 rounding objects are becoming more distinct every moment ; and the few 

 early notes of the Stormcock from the neighbouring copse, and the cry of 

 a noisy Blackbird fresh from its roosting-place in the hollies, tell you that 

 morning is at hand. See, the Curlews are astir, and the Lapwings are 

 just waking up from the rough fallows. But your musings are broken by 

 the flapping noise of pinions and the approach of a dark heavy bird. It is 

 a Blackcock coming to the pairing-station, ready to fight for and win his 

 brides. A handsome fellow he is, and his rich glossy plumage shines 

 with a healthy lustre in the dim morning light. He looks ronnd a moment, 

 as if half-conscious of your presence, and then busies himself with his own 

 affairs. Drawing himself up to his full height he struts proudly about, now 

 trailing his wings, and ever and anon erecting and spreading his broad fan- 

 like tail, all the time incessantly uttering his peculiar love-song. Now he 

 springs into the air, turning halfway round as he descends, then crouches to 

 the ground, swells out his throat, and in a dozen different ways strives to 

 display his charms or give challenge to a rival. But your attention is 

 soon called away from him, for shortly another cock bird makes his 

 appearance. Another and another speedily arrive, and all are soon engaged 

 in the same strange antics ,• and, see, there are several females, too, much 

 less conspicuous in their brown plumage. Now two males will meet in this 

 strange arena and a combat occurs, the birds fighting with as much zest 

 as a couple of Bantam cocks, and in much the same manner, the feathers 

 falling quickly as the battle gains in fierceness. The females are getting 

 more interested every moment, ready to bestow their affections on the 

 victorious males, and run to and fro with drooping wings, occasionally 

 uttering their call-note. And so these combats proceed until all the 

 brides are won, when the strife ceases, and the birds retire to seek their 

 morning meal, but again assemble in the evening, and not unfrequently 

 in the middle of the day as well. Throughout the laying-season the 

 Blackcock is a noisy and pugnacious creature ; and once the full comple- 

 ment of eggs is deposited by the female, he quits her society probably 

 for ever^ leaving her to hatch and rear her brood unaided." 



Eggs of the Blackcock are rarely found before the beginning of May. 

 The site of the nest is varied, but generally well and artfully concealed. 

 It may be where a pine tree or a larch has been snapped off by a winter 

 storm, and its branches covered with a luxuriant growth of bracken and 

 brambles, or it may be under a dense briar or bramble, or not unfrequently 

 under a thick mass of heather and fern. Very little nest is made — a hollow 

 is scratched out and lined with a few bits of herbage, fern-fronds, scraps 

 of heath, or bracken-stems. In this rudely formed nest the Greyhen (a 

 name by which the female is technically known) deposits from six to ten 



