184 GROUSE. 



where the strutting cock, with drooping wings and 

 expanded tail, performs strange loVe antics in order to 

 captivate a sufficient following of hens for the ensuing 

 season, for, unlike the Red Grouse, the Blackcock is 

 polygamous. With these he may. be met feeding in 

 the open, or perching in the wood, until the hens are 

 confined to the nests, which are placed under a bush 

 or some similar shelter. In autumn, however, very 

 large gatherings are encountered in the stubble lands, 

 the family ties having been dissolved for readjustment 

 in the spring. The Blackcock is unique in the posses- 

 sion of his broadly curling tail, and this distinctive 

 mark is absent only during the moult, when for a 

 time the cock assumes in the upper parts the duller 

 and more protective colouring of the hen. 



CAPERCAILZIE.— Form, like the Black Grouse 

 (plate 81). Length, 3 feet. Bill hooked, whitish; 

 upper parts generally of a dark slaty-gray ; tail 

 blackish, with white spots ; scarlet patch above the 

 eye ; chest dark, shining green ; breast and remaining 

 under parts black, both spotted Mnith white ; legs 

 feathered to the toes. Female: 26 inches. Head, 

 neck, and upper parts brown, mottled with buff and 

 white ; fore-neck and breast chestnut, barred with 

 black and spotted with white. Resident. 



Eggs. — 6—12, pale reddish-yellow, with spots and 

 blotches of brown ; 2-2 x 1-5 inches (plate 186). 



Nest,^A hollow in the ground under shelter of a 

 bush or tree. 



