86 FROM SPRING TO FALL. 



will the blackcock be seen in the spots where once 

 I often watched him. He had been there in the 

 time of the old men's fathers, and he was there 

 a few years ago ; now he has disappeared. The 

 old haunts of the black-game are still remaining, 

 and even their playing-places. I recently examined 

 one of these ; it was a flat outcrop of moor-stone 

 covered with the finest turf, and raised above the 

 level of the rest some three or four feet. Three 

 ragged storm-broken firs stood on one side of it, 

 and the rising sun lit up the place till it looked 

 unchanged ; but never, from any quarter, came 

 a coo-croon, bubble ! or well-remembered sneeze ! 

 I could only picture to myself the princely bird, 

 with swollen throat and trailed wings, his curved 

 tail thrown back, making him look from a direct 

 front view like a large mass of steel-blue and white 

 feathers. Here was once his platform ; but he 

 and his sober - coloured admirers, the grey hens, 

 have gone. Natural events, which are now taking 

 place around us almost daily, have been in great 

 measure the cause of this disappearance of black- 

 game. But there have also been other causes at 

 work. 



