﻿146 
  

  

  BIRDS. 
  

  

  notice 
  of 
  this 
  bird 
  Brown 
  remarks 
  that 
  it 
  resembles 
  the 
  Black- 
  

   cock 
  in 
  every 
  respect 
  but 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  larger, 
  measuring 
  twenty- 
  

   eight 
  inches 
  in 
  length, 
  and 
  that 
  the 
  shining 
  feathers 
  on 
  the 
  breast 
  

   and 
  neck 
  are 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  colour 
  as 
  that 
  found 
  on 
  the 
  neck 
  of 
  

   a 
  Rock 
  Pigeon. 
  The 
  tail 
  is 
  also 
  like 
  that 
  of 
  a 
  Blackcock, 
  but 
  not 
  

   so 
  much 
  forked. 
  The 
  bird 
  was 
  found 
  dead 
  in 
  the 
  Darnaway 
  

   woods, 
  'where 
  there 
  are 
  still 
  a 
  few 
  more 
  of 
  such 
  exactly 
  the 
  

   same.' 
  It 
  had 
  a 
  broken 
  leg. 
  

  

  In 
  1888 
  a 
  hybrid 
  male 
  (T. 
  urugallus 
  and 
  T. 
  tetrix) 
  was 
  

   trapped 
  by 
  a 
  crofter 
  about 
  six 
  miles 
  from 
  Forres 
  in 
  December 
  

   1888. 
  It 
  was 
  taken 
  in 
  the 
  flesh 
  to 
  Mr. 
  Leadingham, 
  birdstuffer, 
  

   of 
  Caroline 
  Street, 
  Forres, 
  at 
  whose 
  house 
  the 
  Rev. 
  H. 
  A. 
  

   Macpherson 
  identified 
  it 
  (Rev. 
  H. 
  A. 
  Macpherson, 
  in 
  lit. 
  4th 
  

   March 
  1892). 
  Another 
  male 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  kind 
  of 
  hybrid 
  was 
  

   shot 
  in 
  August 
  1889, 
  at 
  Loch 
  Loy, 
  by 
  General 
  Baillie. 
  

  

  ' 
  A 
  hen 
  Capercaillie 
  was 
  shot 
  last 
  week 
  on 
  the 
  Rothiemurchus 
  

   estate, 
  Aviemore, 
  N.B., 
  and 
  is 
  believed 
  to 
  be 
  the 
  only 
  specimen 
  

   ever 
  obtained 
  in 
  Strathspey. 
  Three 
  years 
  ago 
  Lord 
  Winchelsea 
  

   shot 
  on 
  the 
  same 
  estate 
  a 
  bird 
  which 
  was 
  an 
  undoubted 
  hybrid 
  

   between 
  a 
  Pheasant 
  and 
  a 
  Capercaillie. 
  This 
  specimen 
  is 
  now 
  

   stuffed 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  possession 
  of 
  Mr. 
  William 
  Grant 
  of 
  The 
  Dell, 
  

   Rothiemurchus. 
  The 
  hybrid 
  between 
  Capercaillie 
  and 
  Black 
  

   Grouse 
  is 
  not 
  uncommon, 
  but 
  a 
  cross 
  between 
  the 
  Pheasant 
  and 
  

   Capercaillie 
  should 
  be 
  of 
  great 
  interest 
  to 
  naturalists.' 
  1 
  

  

  Tetrao 
  tetrix, 
  L. 
  Black 
  Grouse. 
  

  

  Widely 
  distributed, 
  but, 
  from 
  what 
  we 
  can 
  learn, 
  nowhere 
  so 
  com- 
  

   mon 
  as 
  formerly 
  ; 
  indeed, 
  it 
  seems 
  to 
  be 
  on 
  the 
  decrease 
  in 
  most 
  

   places. 
  

  

  To 
  this, 
  however, 
  we 
  are 
  glad 
  to 
  be 
  able 
  to 
  make 
  one 
  exception. 
  

   Captain 
  Ellice 
  writes 
  us 
  in 
  October 
  1887, 
  that 
  'the 
  black 
  game 
  

   have 
  done 
  very 
  well, 
  and 
  it 
  begins 
  to 
  look 
  like 
  old 
  times 
  again, 
  as 
  

   I 
  have 
  several 
  times 
  seen 
  forty 
  or 
  fifty 
  of 
  them 
  together.' 
  In 
  1888 
  

   Captain 
  Ellice 
  again 
  mentions 
  that 
  they 
  were 
  still 
  increasing 
  and 
  

   much 
  more 
  numerous. 
  At 
  Guisachan 
  Lord 
  Tweedmouth 
  and 
  

   party 
  killed 
  eighty-seven 
  birds 
  in 
  six 
  days' 
  shooting 
  in 
  November 
  

   1889. 
  

  

  1 
  Daman 
  {Field, 
  November 
  4th, 
  1893, 
  p. 
  712). 
  

  

  