114 THK WOOD GRni^Si: OR CAPERCAILZIE. 
aexfa had become very obvious before the tleath of 
the young males. I'he plumage of the latter was 
mucli darker, their gertcnl dimensions were greater, 
their hills larger mul more hooked. These charactera 
became very apparent during November ainl Decem- 
ber. 
" The old males liave never yet bad acceits to the 
young birtis, ho tliat it has not been ascertained whe- 
ther they entertain any natural regard for their oft- 
spring-, or would manilest any enmity toward:* them. 
From the continued witdiies^; of the old hirda, espe-^ 
cially tbe mates, it was fouiul difficult lo weigh them, 
wiihout incurring the risk of injuring their plumage. 
However, tlie mah^ whieb arrived in 1829, and wbicli 
then app fared to be a bird of tlu* pr'evious year, waa 
lately wej«lied, and was found to be eleven pounds 
nine ounces avoirdupois. Judging from appearanceg, 
it is believed tliat tlie weight of the old hen would 
not much exceed one half* There h, indeed^ a 
striking disparity in ihe dimensions of the sexes in 
tills BpecieB. 
" The intention is, as soon as some beallhy broodii 
liave been reared in confinement, to lihei-aie a few in 
the old pine woods of Braemar, and thun eventually 
to stock Willi the finest of feathered game the noblest 
of Scottisli forests." * 
In addition to the forests of Uie north of Britain, 
the wood-grou-je inhabit!* those of ihe continent of Eu- 
rope, and is indeed more abundant there than ever it 
■ Jamea Wilson, in JameBon'a Jouinal for July 1833, 
