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Mr. Collett, " a wider distribution than the other two species of the genus Tetrao, and is certainly 

 more numerous. 



" The Capercaillie is found further north, and breeds in the fir-woods of Alten and South 

 Varanger in 70° N. lat., whereas the Black Grouse does not range further than the birch-forests 

 of Tromso and the valley of the Maalsch, in about 69-|° N. lat.; and the Hazel-Grouse scarcely 

 seems to pass into the Arctic circle. The Capercaillie, as well as the Hazel-Grouse, are so 

 strictly confined to the conifer-woods, that they scarcely occur on the west coast, where the 

 conifer-woods are almost wanting ; the black game, on the contrary, thrives well in the birch- 

 woods of Western Norway. 



" On the fell-side this species even passes above the birch belt ; consequently its breeding- 

 haunts in some instances coalesce with those of the Dalrype [Lag opus alius) ; and thus the 

 singular hybrid the Rypeorre [Lagopus tetrici-albus) ; is occasionally produced." Barth records 

 it from the Lofoten Islands ; common on Lango and Hasselo " in localities where both birch and 

 juniper grow; and it is said to have been common on Moldo ;" and Nilsson states that in Sweden 

 it is found in almost all woods, in the mountains as well as in the level country, from Skane up 

 into Lapland, and especially affects birch-woods. On the fells it ranges into the birch and pine 

 regions, but is rare above the fir growth." In Finland, Professor Malmgren informs me, it 

 breeds up as high as 67^° N. lat. ; and I found it tolerably numerous, and obtained not a few of 

 its eggs when at Uleaborg. In Northern Russia it is numerous, and said to be especially so in 

 the Government of Archangel. Judging from the great numbers sent us to the markets at 

 St. Petersburg, and the low prices at which I have purchased them there, it must be a very 

 common species throughout Northern Russia." Mr. Sabanaeff writes that it is generally distri- 

 buted throughout the Ural, and especially numerous in the birch-woods of the south-eastern 

 slopes of that mountain-range ; and Mr. Taczanowski informs me that it is " common in Poland, 

 where it is met with chiefly in the swampy portions of the country, but it is much more numerous 

 in Lithuania and Eastern and Western Russia. Borggreve includes it as a resident and partial 

 migrant throughout North Germany, but, excepting in Prussia and Silesia, nowhere common. 

 Mr. R. Blasius states that between 1841 and 1848 it bred in the Sophienthal, Brunswick, but 

 has not been observed there since the latter year. In Denmark it used to be common on the 

 heaths of Jutland, Slesvig, and Holstein, but is now only very rare in that country. In Holland, 

 Professor Schlegel states, it is only found in the heath-covered moors of Overijssel, Drentsche, 

 and Groningen. Baron de Selys-Longchamps writes that it is found in all the heath-covered 

 districts towards Luxemburg and the Prussian frontier. De la Fontaine records it as now 

 restricted to the Ardennes, the Canton of Salm, occasionally appearing in those of Bastogne 

 and Clervaux ; and Degland and Gerbe state that it is a tolerably common species in France 

 (not naming any particular locality), and especially so in the wooded mountain-districts. 



It does not appear to occur in Portugal ; but Mr. Howard Saunders informs me that it " is 

 resident and tolerably abundant in the eastern portions of the Pyrenees, where the Catalans know 

 it well by the name of Cua furuda, or ' forked-tail."' Passing eastward again we find it recorded 

 by Bailly as " common and resident throughout the wooded portions of the Savoy Alps." Bettoni 

 figures it amongst the birds which breed in Lombardy, and states that it nests in the mountains 

 above the Lata district, although rapidly becoming scarce. Salvadori writes that it is " resident 



