Jan. 11, 1896. j 
Greece, northward throughout Europe, this bird is found 
in most of the lofty forest districts suitable for his abode 
and where he has not been exterminated by man, This 
grouse fairly abounds in the great pine and spruce forests 
of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Finland and Russia, and 
the vast forest stretches of northern Asia. 
The capercailzie is an extremely hardy bird. In 
Sweden and Norway he is found in large numbers' up to 
and beyond the Arct'c circle, as far as the 70th parallel of 
North latitude. He can endure the severest cold and 
deepest snows of the longest winters. He often avoids the 
bitterest weather by burrowing into the snow, thus obtain- 
ing warmth and shelter. 
This bird subsists on the coarsest and most common 
food. He feeds [upon the buds and leaves of trees, the 
needles or leaves of the pine and spruce, young pine 
cones, clover and grass, berries of all sorts, seed and 
grain, and insects of every kind. In the depth of winter 
a capercailzie has been known to live for more than a 
week in the same pine tree, subsisting entirely upon pine 
leaves and young pine cones. 
The capercailzie is pre eminently a bird of the pine 
woods, or pine mixed with birch, spruce, maple and 
other growths. He loves wooded hillsides better than 
wooded plains, and he must have fresh water near by, 
either a brook, or porid, or a piece of swampy ground. 
He is a local, not a migratory bird, though sometimes 
lack of food or other causes may drive him to extensive 
wanderings. 
In his habits he much resembles our American ruffed 
grouse — though he is nearly ten times as large — and I be- 
lieve will thrive anywhere in the United States where 
our ruffed grouse (called partridge in New England, and 
pheasant in the Middle States) is found. 
The black game — Tetrao tetrix — inhabits nearly the 
same regions as the capercailzie. He is equally hardy 
and can withstand the cold and snows of the most rigor- 
ous Northern winters. 
His weight is about 3lbs., nearly the same as our prairie 
chicken. The male bird is a lustrous metallic black in 
color. Hence the name, He has, however, a white 
stripe in his wings, and is'easily distinguished by his 
beautiful, jet-black, outward curving tail feathers. The 
female is somewhat smaller, and her plumage is a 
speckled gray. She is called in England "the gray hen." 
The black game is also a grouse, and is often found in 
company with the capercailzie, or at least in close prox- 
imity. The black game is also a bird of the woods, but 
the birch is distinctively his tree, though he is met with in 
mixed growths of almost every variety. 
He does not frequent the deep woods so much as the 
capercailzie. He loves better the borders of the forest, 
and woods, and groves, with frequent openings. He is 
also fond of cranberry swamps, and in swampy lands 
is often found miles away from any forest. He is a 
more social bird than the capercailzie, and comes out 
more into the fields and clearings, and nearer the abodes 
of man. 
His food is much the same as the capercailzie, though 
not quite so coarse. It consists chiefly of the buds and 
leaves of trees, berries and insects. In summer the black 
game is very fond of blueberries, raspberries and cran- 
berries. In winter he feeds principally upon the buds of 
the birch, hazel, alder, willow and beech; and, when 
pressed for food, will eat the young green cones of the 
pine. This bird seems to be equally fond of animal food, 
and readily eats snails, worms, the larvae of ants, flies, 
beetles, etc. 
The capercailzie and black game are the two most im- 
portant wild birds in Sweden and Norway, and make a 
valuable addition to the food of the Scandinavian people. 
These birds are excellent upon the table, their flesh re- 
sembling that of our prairie chickens. Throughout the 
fall and most of the winter you may see the capercailzie 
and black game hanging up [in large bunches or lying 
heaped in great piles along the market places of Stock- 
holm, scattered about as profusely as wild ducks in the 
markets of Chicago or Minneapolis in the month of 
October. 
Will the capercailzie and black game thrive in the 
United States? On this question I think there can be no 
reasonable doubt. The fact is that a great portion of the 
United States— at least one-third, perhaps one-half— is 
fitted to be the home of these valuable birds. 
For there is a suitable climate, a suitable broken country 
of hill and dale, well watered and covered with a suitable 
forest growth, and this forest growth, together with its 
underbrush and bushes, will not only provide shelter for 
these birds, but will furnish them with all the food they re- 
quire, until they become as plenty as European sparrows 
now are in our streets and public parks. 
It is my firm conviction that both the capercailzie and 
black game will thrive throughout all the wooded districts 
of New England, New York and Pennsylvania, and west- 
ward through the greater portion of the States of 
Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. They will also find 
a congenial home along the wooded slopes of the Rocky 
Mountains for their entire length, as well as in all the 
wooded ravines and declivities of the mountain ranges of 
California, Oregon and Washington. 
And not only here. The fact that these birds are found 
among the hills and mountains of Europe, as far south as 
Greece,Italy and Spain, renders it almost certain that they 
will find a congenial climate and nature throughout the 
entire ranges of the Alleghanies, the Blue Ridge and the 
Cumberland Mountains, together with their spurs, side- 
hills and outlying forest districts, and may thus easily be 
acclimated over large sections of the States of Virginia, 
West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, 
South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama. 
How can these birds be introduced among us? The 
easiest and cheapiest way would be by obtaining their 
eggs, sending them to America, and having them hatched 
out there. I am sorry that I cannot recommend this 
course. Eggs have repeatedly been sent to Germany and 
Great Britain, but every such attempt has turned out a 
complete failure. The only other method is to procure 
and ship adult birds. This has also been tried, and 
the results are such as to give us great encourage- 
ment. 
The capercailzie was originally found in Scotland. His 
great size and fine flesh caused him to be keenly hunted, 
and some generations ago he was utterly exterminated. 
About fifty years since, some fifty capercailzie, adult birds, 
were shipped from Sweden across the North Sea to Scot- 
land. They arrived safely, were liberated in a suitable 
ocality, and lived and increased. Their descendants are 
living and increasing to this day, and the capercailzie is 
again added to the food-birds of Scotland. 
I find there have been several shipments of both caper- 
cailzie and black game, of late years, from Sweden to 
various parts of Germany, Austria and Hungary — to 
localities where these birds had been shot out, or where 
they had never existed. 
In all the instances where proper care has been exer- 
cised most of the birds have arrived in good condition, 
have taken kindly to their new homes, and are breeding 
well there. 
A few years ago a considerable shipment of black game 
was made from Sweden to southern Austria, near the 
Italian boundary, and notwithstanding the birds were ten 
days upon the road and that there were many changes of 
trains, they all arrived sound and well, not a bird dying 
on the passage. There are now steamers from Gothen- 
burg, Sweden, with transhipment at Hull, England, also 
direct boats from Copenhagen, just across the sound in 
• Denmark, to New York and Boston. The passage, in the 
summer time, occupies some twelve or thirteen days. 
Surely the fatigue and hardship of this passage would be 
less than ten days in freight cars. 
Neither will the salt air have any bad effect upon the 
birds. Both species love to inhabit the wooded islands 
along the coast, and fly readily from one to the other 
across great reaches of water.* 
I find the birds recently shipped to Germany have cost 
$12 each for capercailzie and $7 for black game. These 
prices seemed to me high. I learn, however, that many 
of the birds are injured in snaring and many more die 
after a few days' confinement. 
Birds suitable for export, and for which the above 
prices are asked, are all strong and full grown, without 
injury or blemish. They are kept for a considerable time 
in captivity, and are, in fact, nearly half domesticated 
before they are considered suitable to ship on a long 
voyage. So these prices may, perhaps, be only a fair 
compensation for labor, and time, and the inevitable large 
mortality among the birds during the earlier part of their 
captivity. 
I believe at least one hundred birds of each species 
should be shipped to give the experiment a fair trial. This 
will make the cost: 
100 capercailzie, at $12 
100 black game, at $7. , 
,. Sl,200 
.. 700 
Total ^goo 
The birds must be placed in roomy coops of the best 
construction, and not crowded. They must have a light 
and airy position on shipboard, and some one should be 
sent to take charge of them, or some sailor or steward on 
board must be specially instructed, so as to properly feed 
and care for them. The expense of building the coops, of 
freight and of care-taking will be considerable, to which 
must be added freight and expenses from the American 
port of landing to destination ; so that, allowing for all 
contingencies, a sum of $3,000 will probably be required 
for the undertaking. 
Will not you, gentle reader, be the patriotic American 
to merit the thanks of your countrymen and of posterity 
by contributing the amount necessary to add these noble 
birds to the fauna of America? 
*Since this chapter was written, I am informed that black game have 
been introduced into Newfoundland, and are doing well there. 
Michigan Black Foxes. 
Ewen, Mich., Dec. SO.— Editor Forest and Stream: 
After enjoying every page of the last Forest and Stream 
I decided to send you an item which I think will interest 
a great many of your readers: 
During the early summer it was reported by different 
homesteaders, living about three miles east of here, that 
they had seen a full grown black fox with three young. 
Very few credited the story, although such a fox was 
shot by a Mr. Bennet, at Trout Creek, last winter, which 
is sixteen miles east of here. Nevertheless, a friend of 
mine named James Caulgin, who had a homestead near 
where the foxes were reported to have been seen, made 
up his mind that as soon as snow came he would know 
whether there were any black foxes there or not. 
During the deer season he stopped with a party in his 
shanty on the homestead. While supposed by the other 
boys to be putting in his time hunting deer, he was nearly 
every day following the track of two foxes which he 
thought were a trifle larger than any tracks he had seen 
in the vicinity. He did not expect to see the foxes, but 
thought he would find where they had dropped a hair, 
which would tell their color. He tramped in vain till 
nearly the last day of the season he found a black hair 
in a fox track. Not saying a word to anyone he returned 
home on the last day of the season, but after a few days 
at home he returned alone to the homestead, intent on 
capturing one or both of the black foxes. The fourth day 
after leaving town he came in bringing two black fox 
skins. They were both fine, large skins— a male and a 
female. He got them in a hollow log and killed them 
both with a stick. Their fur is very fine and thick, and 
when stroked toward the head laid as nice as when 
stroked toward the tail. Each hair had a gray tip and 
each tail had a white tip. They were admired by hun- 
dreds, most of whom had never before seen a black fox. 
One was slightly grayer than the other, and had a white 
spot on its breast. He sold the two to a fur buyer in 
Duluth last Saturday for $328. 
Deer were more plentiful than ever here this season, 
but owing to the woods being so noisy fewer were killed 
than any season before; only one of the many hunters 
getting the five allowed by law. 
Wolves are thicker here than ever before this winter. 
They are working great havoc among the deer. 
M. D. Train. 
The Liinnaean Society of New York. 
PUBLIC lectures will be delivered in the American 
Museum of Natural History, Seventy-seventh street and 
Eighth avenue, on Tuesday evenings, Jan. 14 and 28, at 
8 o'clock. Members of the Scientific Alliance and their 
friends are invited. No tickets required. 
Jan. 14.— Public lecture. Franz Boas, "The Indians of 
Vancouver Island. " Illustrated by lantern slides. 
Jan. 28.— Public lecture. W. B. Scott, "The Origin 
and Migrations of North American Mammals." Illus- 
trated by lantern slides. Walter W. Granger, Sec'y. 
American Museum of Natural History. 
Deer and Lilypads. 
Trot, N. Y., Jan. 3.— Editor Forest and Stream: I 
quite agree with Mr. Rice, who in the last issue comments 
upon having seen where lilypads had been eaten by the 
deer. Day after day, during the months in which the 
deer come to water to feed, I have noticed the empty lily 
stalks standing straight up out of the water, with the pads 
taken off as clean as though severed by a sharp knife. 
A few years ago, while sojourning at Lewey Lake, a 
relative of mine, then a young girl of 14, prevailed upon 
one of the guides to take her out on the lake so that she 
might see a deer at close quarters. Just about dusk they 
were paddling slowly up the inlet, when the guide sud- 
denly discovered a deer standing close to the shore, gaz- 
ing straight at them and holding in his mouth a large 
lilypad, which hung down from his jaws in such a man- 
ner as to give him, in the uncertain light, a somewhat 
peculiar appearance. The young lady, upon having the 
deer pointed out to her by the guide, gazed at him a mo- 
ment and then exclaimed in disgust, "A deer indeed! 
That's no deer at all. It's a goat; I can see its whiskers." 
H. F. Bonesteel, M.D. 
A December Quail's Nest. 
Greenbrier, Ala.— Editor Forest and Stream: While 
shooting quail Tuesday, Dec. 24, I found a newly laid 
quail's egg in the grass. I had two large coveys scattered 
upon a sedge hill, and for a few minutes the shooting was 
furious. While gathering up the dead I discovered the 
egg. It was perfectly white, not a spot or stain upon it. 
Wm. M. Hundley. 
0nnie J?## mut <§wu 
CALIBERS FOR BIG GAME. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
From Forest and Stream I am learning the present 
haunts of the fast disappearing game of our country and 
how to encompass their capture — for I am a tenderfoot to 
big game hunting and very desirous to sojourn where they 
are to be found and kill some of them— not wantonly, 
but only for the healthful experience and the necessities of 
camp life. However, hunters are like doctors, because 
wherever there are two they disagree as to the best cali- 
ber of rifle to be used for large game. One reasons that a 
.45-90 makes a large hole and bleeds the game, and the 
increased shock and hemorrhage from the larger openings 
more rapidly destroy life, and escape is correspondingly 
decreased. Another equally practical and experienced 
hunter tells you he does not want to carry an iron mine 
around with him when still-hunting, and has more re- 
spect for his shoulder, and that a .38-55 will stop all the 
game that he wants, and that if the first shot does not do 
it he keeps pumping away as long as the game is moving 
and in sight. 
Now the small caliber rifles, the .30-30 or even smaller, 
together with the smokeless powders, are coming upon 
the scene with their greater velocity and penetration, and 
it seems as if they are going to be the fad. As to the 
nature of the missile this would seem to have great bear- 
ing on the resulting wound. A soft lead, large caliber 
and low velocity would appear to cause the most destruc- 
tive wound, whereas a metal-patched bullet of small cali- 
ber and high velocity would go straighter through the ob- 
struction, make smaller wounds, less hemorrhage, less 
shock, and consequently the animal would live for a 
longer time, and so escape oftener. 
I am given to understand that the large majority of big 
game are killed nearer than 100yds. off, and if this be 
true and the above theories are correct the larger caliber 
and soft bullet would be the surer and the most humane 
destroyer. I have read of a moose being killed with a 
.23cal., but this cannot be considered an ideal arm for 
such a purpose. Now why cannot this entire subject be 
considered from a scientific standpoint, as in military 
surgery? This subject can certainly be reduced to actual 
facts, so that prospective purchasers of an arm and am- 
munition for big game hunting can have a safe and reli- 
able guide in their selection. I may briefly state that per- 
sonally I have read everything I could get hold of on this 
subject for years past and have failed to come to a posi- 
tive conclusion, and I may echo the queries of many 
others by this admission. In short, I want to buy a rifl-3 
and suitable ammunition; which caliber shall I get for 
large game hunting as the best and most serviceable 
weapon of destruction? A. H. 
* FREAKS OF RIFLE BALLS. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
Certainly rifle balls sometimes do strauge things. I re- 
member once killing an antelope in Dakota with a single 
ball, which broke all four of its legs. Tough story, I 
know, but true, though I am sorry to say several of the 
men who witnessed the shot have gone over the "long 
hill" since it happened, and cannot be called to give testi- 
mony. 
Of that party Charley Reynolds, the scout, and Bloody 
Knife, the E,ee, were killed with Custer in 1876, and Cold 
Hand, the Ogallala, I think was killed in the Sioux war a 
year or two later. Bear's Ears, another Ree, for all I 
know, may still be alive. 
Three or four of us, scouts and hunters, came up over 
a hill and upon a buck antelope feeding in the Bad Lands, 
about 60yds. off. Antelope were plenty in that country 
in those days, and very tame, and this one, when he saw 
us, only raised his head, looked for a second or two, and 
then trotted off 20 or 30yds. and stopped again. I had 
tumbled off my horse and as soon as he stopped fired at 
his shoulder. He staggered a few steps and then fell, and 
I went up to him. He was not dead, and I had to cut his 
throat. 
The course taken by the ball which struck him was 
very remarkable. It had passed through the joint be- 
tween the shoulder blade and humerus of the left fore- 
leg, crossed over and struck the right humerus on its 
posterior side, and then turned at right angles and gone 
back, cutting two or three ribs, and struck the right 
femur, which it broke low down, and then turned again 
at right angles, came out of the right leg, high up, under 
the animal's belly, and struck the gambrel joint of the 
left leg, which it unjointed and cut off, all except a little 
thread of skin. I could hardly believe my eyes when I 
traced the course of the ball, but there could be no doubt 
about it because I was the only person who fired, and 
there was but one hole of entrance, Old Man. 
