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attacked each other; and a tough battle ensued, the two birds squaring up to each other like 

 thoroughbred fighting-cocks. I was in hopes of seeing a battle royal, such as I believe not 

 uncommonly occurs ; but neither on this nor any other occasion did I see more than three engaged 

 together ; and these certainly carried on a sort of triangular duel with great zest, and went at 

 each other fighting with beak and claws, making the feathers fly pretty fast. During the time 

 the males were thus employed, the females, which did not at first show themselves, ere long 

 appeared amongst the bushes close to the scene of combat, and appeared to evince their anxiety 

 to welcome the victor to their embraces ; for as the " lek " proceeded they came closer to the 

 combatants, evidently eager to do their part of the performance. Mr. Collett, who has in Norway 

 witnessed more " leks " than I have in other parts of Scandinavia, informs me that the oldest and 

 strongest cocks are the first to open the ball ; and from the tough combats that ensue I can well 

 believe this. The call-note is clear and loud, and may be heard at a long distance in the clear 

 atmosphere of a northern spring morning ; it is, Mr. Collett says, much " louder than that of the 

 Capercaillie, which is comparatively weak and cannot be heard unless one is close to where the 

 bird is calling. During the time the old birds are fighting and blowing, the young males keep 

 at a respectful distance on the outskirts of the drumming-place, imitating their seniors as well as 

 they can. During the time he is drumming, the Blackcock is not, like the Capercaillie, deaf and 

 blind to what passes around it, but, on the contrary, he has his wits well about him, and only 

 forgets himself during the most fierce combats. The " lek " is often repeated in October and 

 November, when the weather is clear ; and some individuals may be heard at almost every season 

 of the year: I have repeatedly heard them on the heights near Christiania in the late autumn 

 when the weather was mild or rainy. The female visits the " lek "- or " drumming "-place 

 every morning to receive the embraces of the male, the pairing-season extending over about eight 

 to fourteen days; and she then deposits her eggs, which are usually eight or nine in number. 

 They select for the purpose of nidification some quiet spot under a bush, or in the heather, 

 though sometimes the nest is in quite an open place ; still the colour of the female harmonizes so 

 well with the ground that, when sitting, she is not easily distinguished ; and she sits so close that 

 she will only leave her eggs when almost trodden on. When the young are hatched they follow 

 the mother, and are fed almost exclusively on ants' eggs, and various sorts of insects ; when a little 

 older they pluck off the leaves of various plants, tender grass-shoots, unripe seed-pods, and berries ; 

 and when in the autumn they are almost full-grown they, like their parents, feed almost exclu- 

 sively on vegetable matter, and their crops are often found distended with various sorts of berries, 

 such as Umpetrum nigrum, Juniperus, Myrtillus nigra, and M. uliginosa ; nor do they reject unripe 

 berries, as the crop is often quite full of these unripe berries, though ripe ones are to be met 

 with in abundance. When the young are in the down plumage, they pass the night on the 

 ground under the sheltering wing of their mother ; and she also covers and protects them when 

 the weather is bad. So soon as the young can fly they flutter up and roost in the low branches 

 of the trees. Both old and young birds are very fond of dusting themselves in sandy or black 

 mouldy earth. The old birds feed on vegetable matter, tender shoots, and leaves of various wild 

 plants, and berries of various descriptions. Mr. R. Gray writes that a curious fact is mentioned 

 by Dr. John Walker, at one time Professor of Natural History in the University of Edinburgh, in 

 his work entitled 'An Economical History of the Hebrides,' &c. In vol. i. p. 337, the following 



