The Black Grouse 25 
the Blagdon hills, about nine miles, and other places where they were lost to view, but 
these cannot be called long nights, as in Scandinavia they go for hundreds of miles in 
a few days. Both capercaillie and Blackgame often resort to a peculiar "header" or 
dive towards the earth when suddenly viewing men, and in this way often save their 
lives. I have more than once seen a Blackcock " stoop " from a height to join grouse 
that have been flushed below, and the speed at which he flies is apt to be deceitful. It 
is from forty to fifty miles an hour according to the. wind. They have, however, a 
marked aversion to being " pushed " beyond their regular pace, and in this respect are 
very different from grouse, which will always take the help of the breeze if they can. 
This is probably due to the shape and length of the tail, which is blown out of posi- 
tion. Consequently they head up wind at once when the wind is going faster than they 
are. On misty days, or with the sun behind the birds, it is difficult to tell the cock 
from the hen. Only practice in sport can obviate such mistakes, which are usually of 
some pecuniary benefit to the keeper. 
The usual number of Black Grouse found together is from ten to twenty-five. 
Flocks composed entirely of old males often keep together from September until March. 
In fact, the males at this season keep much together, and arrive in a pack at the " lek." 
Throughout the summer the males keep together in small parties, even in July and 
August, when in eclipse dress ; but at this time it is more common to find them scattered 
about singly and hiding in the dense cover, when they are difficult to find and flush. 
In winter I have often seen packs of 100 Blackgame in certain districts. The 
largest number I have ever seen at one time in a pack was at Doune, Stirlingshire, 
on Lord Moray's ground. At first the birds were seen on the stubbles, but came on 
to the moor as we were driving grouse. The sportsmen present agreed that there were 
at least 300 in the flock, which I think was a fair estimate. They came once over my 
butt, and I killed six old Blackcocks, and with twenty-two grouse it was a " stand " I shall 
ever remember. Subsequent efforts to drive them were fruitless. Old inhabitants in the 
Black Isle testify to the great abundance of the species when the woods were young 
about seventy years ago, and it was a common sight to see several hundreds on the 
stubbles at one time. Nowadays a bag of fifty Blackcock in a day is a rare event ; but 
the number has been killed more than once on the Duke of Buccleuch's moors in 
Dumfriesshire. A bag of fifty brace of Blackgame was made on Lord Lichfield's moor 
at Cannock Chase a few years ago. At Drumlanrig, the guns having only one muzzle- 
loader each, killed in one day about thirty years ago, 200 Blackgame and 100 grouse. 
The best bag of birds so far recorded 1 is 247 (of which 100 were cocks), at Sanquhar, 
Dumfriesshire. Mr. A. Stuart-Wortley also gives the following figures of bags of Black- 
game made at Drumlanrig Castle — 181 1, 1586; 1865, 1530; 1869, 1508; 1870, i486; 
1871, 1429. 
On the ground, Blackgame walk about very slowly, and are quiet and reserved in 
all their movements. In the course of an hour or two they only move a few yards, 
the cocks being much more watchful than the Greyhens. When wounded they can run 
very swiftly, but in cover they soon squat and are easily overtaken. As a rule they 
roost on the ground, but I have known them retire for the night to trees. 
1 A. Stuart-Wortley in The Grouse (Fur and Feather Series), p. 263. 
D 
