221 



" I made a post-mortem examination of a male in the spring ; the crop contained Triticum 

 repens, a great many blossoms of the ranunculus, and some twenty hymenopterous insects, all of 

 one species. The crop of a male which I killed in the autumn was empty, whilst that of a 

 female contained five blossoms of Taraxacum, a little grass, and some leaves of different sorts. 

 With the exception of the shepherds, no one in the country is acquainted with these birds ; and 

 the native hunter does not care to expend his powder on such insignificant game, preferring to 

 save it for deer and ibex, which abound and afford both flesh and leather, and also to destroy 

 the wolves and bears. This bird is in their eyes of no more value than a sparrow ; and their 

 astonishment was great indeed at seeing us so earnestly occupied in the pursuit of such game. 

 Notwithstanding this, the bird is known by different names in different districts. The Lerzgines 

 call it Ryezta, the Touhines Roczo, the Tartars Kara-touch (blackfowl) or Mesza-touch (wood- 

 fowl). 



" Shooting these birds with either pointer or setter is next to impossible in the mountains, 

 where the walking is excessively heavy, and where you cannot always follow the dog, let alone 

 the difficulty of shooting flying whilst standing in an awkward and not unfrequently a dangerous 

 position. It also often happens that one cannot get within shot of a tree upon which one finds 

 the Grouse ' treed ' and quietly watching the dog as he keeps barking at him. When the bird 

 is thus hunted and 'treed' by a dog, it always allows the gunner to come within easy range, so 

 as to ensure his killing it. The bird is so little afraid of man that my companion, after shooting 

 the male out of a tree, has also secured the female with which he was in company, she having 

 only flown a few paces further on and perched again, allowing him time to reload whilst she sat 

 there, and he then shot her down. This sport (?) is best in the spring, without a dog ; for one 

 can see the birds at a great distance amongst the herbage, which is neither high nor dense at 

 that season, whereas in the autumn shooting the present species is much more difficult, as it is 

 by no means easy to find the birds amongst the high grass-tufts, which are, moreover, very 

 slippery." 



I am indebted to Count Casimir Branicki for an egg of the present species, and have seen 

 three others sent by him to this country. They all resemble the eggs of the common Black 

 Grouse in general character, but have a much lighter, indeed almost ochreous white, ground- 

 colour, and are less boldly marked, the markings being also paler. In size they do not differ 

 from the average run of black-game eggs. 



The specimens figured and described are the types of the species, and are now in the Museum 

 at Warsaw. 



In the preparation of the above article I have examined the following specimens : — 



E Mus. H. E. Dresser. 



a, j ad. Lagodechi, Russian Georgia (Mlokosiewics) . 



E Mus. Wars, 

 a. d ad., b, ?. Lagodechi (M.). 



2a2 



