no RECREATIONS uj^ a inajlujivaj^iox 



New Forest Blackgame may still be met with, 

 but a mere remnant of the ancient stock which has 

 now but a precarious existence. In Wolmer 

 Forest, although it became extinct in Gilbert 

 White's day, it was re-introduced after the planting 

 of the wood by Sir Charles Taylor, then ranger of 

 the forest, and for some time throve exceedingly 

 well. The parent stock of the present race came 

 from Cumberland, and in 1872 an old man who had 

 brought the birds to Wolmer was still living in the 

 neighbouring village of Liphook. Had they been 

 properly looked after, and the due proportion of the 

 sexes maintained — one Blackcock to three Grey- 

 hens — they would have increased and done well 

 there, for the country is well suited to their habits ; 

 but in the belief that they had better be left alone, 

 the cock birds were suffered to become much too 

 numerous in proportion to the hens, with the result 

 that the latter were so worried in the pairing time 

 as to be unable to nest in peace, and thus the 

 number of broods hatched annually declined, until 

 at length they once more reached that verge of 

 extinction from which they had been but lately 

 rescued. 



Blackgame, like Capercaillie, seldom stay long 

 or thrive in places where they have been intro- 

 duced unless the introduction means a restoration 

 to ancient haunts. Experiments have been tried 

 on the heath lands in Norfolk, on the Welsh hill- 

 sides in Carnarvonshire, and in several parts of 

 Ireland, but with only partial success, and that not 

 maintained. Either the ground was not quite 



