THE BLACK GROUSE. 

 Tetrao tetrix, Linnaeus. 

 Plate 55. 



Commonly known as Black-game when both sexes are included, and respectively 

 as Blackcock and Greyhen, this species is still fairly plentiful in the north of 

 England, becoming less frequent in some of the midland counties, and though 

 still found in Wales, Somersetshire, and North Devon, exists only in small and 

 diminishing numbers in other parts of south-western England. Formerly it in- 

 habited Kent, Hampshire, Surrey, and Sussex, but in those counties it is now 

 quite extinct. The Black Grouse is widely distributed over Scotland, being a 

 common species in many parts, but it is not indigenous in Ireland. It is well 

 known on the Continent of Europe, and ranges eastwards into Siberia. 



In March and April, and sometime onwards until summer, the males assemble 

 soon after daybreak on some favourite open spot, when they perform their strik- 

 ing love-display, known as the lek, and engage in battle — never, as far as I have 

 seen, with any very serious results — for possession of the females. I have often 

 watched these meetings on grassy " knowes " by the Helmsdale in Sutherland, 

 where the sketches were made for the birds in the picture, which show the Black- 

 cock's attitude when courting. He produces at the time a succession of soft notes, 

 which have been described as "whirring" or "bubbling," and these may be heard 

 at times during the day ; when sparring with an antagonist, the cocks often emit 

 a rather harsh cry. 



The nest is merely some small cavity in the ground, with a scanty lining of 

 dry herbage, and contains from six to ten eggs, in ground colour yellowish-white 

 spotted and marked with brownish-red. 



Black-game feed chiefly on various wild fruits, such as rowan berries, black- 

 berries, heps and haws, as well as on buds of the birch and other trees, and, 

 when young, more or less on insects. 



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