MORE ABOUT GAME-BIRDS. 131 



explained. The birds are wanderers, the hen birds 

 particularly so, and they precede the male birds 

 in their explorations when wandering in search 

 of fresh breeding-grounds. Meeting with the grey 

 hens, the females of the black - grouse, they find 

 friends who are not much larger nor in a general 

 way so very different from themselves, and whose 

 tastes in food coincide with their own. So they stay 

 with the ladies of the black prince's seraglio, and 

 very beautiful hybrids are the offspring of the black- 

 grouse and the wood-grouse. 



The female of the capercailzie or wood-grouse 

 is much smaller than its mate. Both vary in size, 

 but the hen birds to a remarkable extent, being 

 in some instances no larger than a full-plumaged 

 blackcock. The plumage of the capercailzie hen 

 is variegated with brownish black, yellowish red, 

 and pure white. Her nest is made on the ground, 

 generally in the cover close to the stem of some 

 tree. The eggs, from eight to ten in number, are 

 light yellowish brown spotted with two shades of 

 rich tawny brown. 



The capercailzies have been accused of driving 

 the black -grouse away from their haunts. But 



