72 
RESTORATION TO HIS THRONE. 
The giant Grouse, where boastful he displays 
His breast of varying green, and crows and claps 
His glossy wings 
the great Cock-o'-the-woods, Tetraio Urogallus, as natural- 
ists call him, which name we may translate if we please 
into the Bull-cock — largest of all feathered game, largest 
indeed of all our native wild birds, weighing as much as a 
turkey, that is from twelve to fifteen pounds, and measuring 
about two feet nine inches in length. This is what BufFon 
calls Le Grand Coq de Bruyere. His commonest name is 
Capercaillie, or Capercalzie, from the Gaelic capullcoille, 
literally the ' Horse of the Wood.' North of Inverness 
they say Caper-calze^ or Auer-calze, reminding us of the 
German and Dutch names for the bird, ^i^6r/ia/i and OuerhaUy 
both having reference to its large size ; truly a splendid 
fellow, but not to be shot easily nor wantonly. Once upon 
a time he reigned king of these pine woods, as he still does 
in those of old Scandinavia. But he had many enemies, 
the most destructive of whom was man, and was hunted 
from place to place ; and finally yielded possession of his 
ancient inheritance, the last of his race then inhabiting the 
British islands having been shot near Inverness in 1780. 
From the Irish bogs and forests he had retired some time 
previously, 1760 being the last recorded date of his appear- 
ance there. 
The first attempt to reintroduce tliis noble bird into 
Britain was made about the beginning of 1828, by Lord 
Fife. This experiment, although not altogether successful, 
was sufficiently so to induce another Scottish nobleman, the 
Marquis of Breadalbane, to renew the attempt in 1838 and 
1839 ; during which years he procured as many as fifty- 
four adult birds, of which two-thirds were females, from 
Norway. There is a curious and interesting journal extant, 
which was kept by Sir Fowell Buxton's Irish gamekeeper, 
who went to Sweden to take charge of the birds collected 
by Mr. Lloyd, author of ' The Field Sports of Norway and 
Sweden,' and bring them to Taymouth Castle, the seat of 
the noble marquis. The larch and pine woods about this 
mansion are now tenanted by the descendants of these im- 
ported Capercalzies. The hills of Drummond, Kenmore, 
and Croftmorraig are their especial places of resort. Several 
