THE BLACK GROUSE. 379 
countries is largely kept and trained for the purpose of fighting prize-battles, 
on the result of which the owners stake large sums. The note of the male 
1s a kind of shrill whistle, which is only heard during the breeding season. 
The nest of the Quail is of no better construction than that of the par- 
tridge, being merely a few bits of hay and dried herbage gathered into some 
little depression in the bare ground, and generally entrusted to the protec- 
tion of corn-stalks, clover, or a tuft of rank grass. The number of eggs is 
generally about fourteen or fifteen, and their colour is buffy white, marked 
with patches or speckles of brown. 
ALTHOUGH once a common inhabitant of the highland districts of Great 
Britain, the CAPERCAILLIE has now been almost wholly extinct for some 
years, a straggling speciinen being occasionally seen in Scotland, and shot 
“for the benefit of science.” ‘This bird is also known by the following 
names :—Cock of the Woods, Mountain Cock, Auerhahn, and Capercailzie. 
It is now most frequently found in the northern parts of Europe, Norway 
and Sweden being very favourite homes. From those countries it is largely 
imported into England by the game-dealers. 
The Capercaillie is celebrated not o:ly for its great size and the excellence 
of its flesh, but for its singular habit just previous to and during the breeding 
season. 
During this season it holds its “play” or love song, called in Norway the 
“jek” He struts about with drooping wings, spread tail, and ruffled feathers, 
and utters a peculiar cry. This is a call to the hens, and always attracts 
them. While the bird is thus engaged, heis so intent upon his “ play,” that 
however wary he may be at other times, he can easily be approached and shot. 
The nest of the Capercaillie is made upon the ground, and contains eight 
or ten eggs; when hatched the young are fed upon insects, more especially 
ants and their pupz. The adult birds 
feed mostly on vegetable substances, such 
as juniper, cranberry, and bilberries, and 
the leaves and buds of several trees. 
The colour of the adult male bird is 
chestnut-brown, covered with a number of 
black lines irregularly dispersed; the 
breast is black with a gloss of green, and 
the abdomen is simply black, as are the 
lengthened feathers of the throat and tail. 
The female is easily known by the bars 
of red and black which traverse the head 
and neck, and the reddish yellow barred 
with black of the under surface. In size 
the Capercaillieis nearly equal to a turkey. 
THE well-known BLACK GROUSE, or 
BLACK COCK, is a native of the more 
southern countries of Europe, and still 
survives in many portions of the British BLack GRouUSsE.—( Zetrao tetrix.) 
Isles, especially those localities where the 
pine-woods and heaths afford it shelter, and it is not dislodged by the 
presence of human habitations. 
Like the two preceding species, the male bird resorts at the beginning of 
the breeding season to some open spot where he utters his love-calls, and 
displays his new clothes to the greatest advantage, for the purpose of 
attracting to his harem as many wives as possible. The note of the Black 
Cock when thus engaged is loud and resonant, and can be heard at a con- 
siderable distance, This crowing sound 1s accumpanied by a harsh, grating, 
