1 6 The Natural History of British Game Birds 
not enjoy a "stand" at Capers. The pleasure of doubling up a "high" cock that 
comes crashing to the ground is a very real one, and must be experienced to be fully 
enjoyed. On those pellucid autumn days in October and November, often the best 
months in the whole year in Scotland, the gunner stands waiting on the steep hillside, 
with pulses high and nerves alert. He must keep a sharp look - out, for in this 
sport the ears are useless. A Capercaillie makes none of the scurrying noise of 
the approaching pheasant, and calls for some knowledge of woodcraft and observa- 
tion — attributes scarcely necessary nowadays in the pursuit of the meaner bird. If he 
sees the little brown or black dot approaching, he must not move or his quarry will 
swing off, up or down the hillside, and escape out of shot, and if the cover is thick, his 
gun must come to his shoulder as smartly and accurately as is required for a woodcock. 
Capercaillie are not nearly so "obstinate" as black grouse when being driven, and 
do not break back over the beaters to the same extent. A gentle tapping of a few 
beaters at wide intervals is all that is necessary to "move" them to a desired point. If 
hit well forward they are easily killed, and i oz. No. 4 shot and 33 grs. Schutze is the 
charge I have found most effective. Several times I have heard sportsmen state 
that they have been attacked by wounded cock Capercaillie, but personally I have never 
seen any proof of active resentment on the part of the bird. When chasing a cock 
to kill it I have often seen the male lower the wings, spread the tail, open the beak, 
and erect the hackle of the neck. When captured by the hand they emit a loud hiss, 
the only sound they ever make, except in the breeding season. One day at Murthly 
the late Sir William Harcourt assured me that he had been attacked and bitten by a 
savage cock he had attempted to catch. I was interested, and went to retrieve the 
fugitive after tying up my dog. The bird in question showed resentment, as I have 
described, but in no way could I induce it to strike with its wings or to bite the hand 
I held in front of it. 
It has been shown that female Capercaillie are nearly always the pioneers of all 
movements to new localities, and these arrive in suitable places before the appearance 
of the males, who by the way are seldom more than a season in following them. In 
the first year of their arrival these hens often accept coition with the males of other 
species of suitable size. In areas frequented by black grouse, the hybrids which result 
from this cross are of such common occurrence that I will not particularise the records. 
I have seen at least one hundred in Perthshire alone, and have little doubt that as 
many as fifty have passed through Mr. Malloch's hands in Perth. The first bird seen 
at Tulliallan in Perthshire, in 1854, and the first seen at Loch Loy in Nairnshire, in 
1889, were male hybrids of these two species, and many other instances could be cited. 
Female examples of this hybrid are extremely rare, even on the Continent, and I do 
not know of a British example. A much rarer hybrid is that between Capercaillie and 
pheasant, of which I have seen or heard of four examples : the first was killed at 
Arden, Loch Lomond, in 1888, and was figured by me in Game Birds and Shooting 
Sketches ; the second was killed in 1891 by Sir Arthur Grant at Monymusk ; a third 
was killed at Stronchullin, Blairmore, Argyllshire, in September 1897 ; and a fourth 
has occurred of which I have lost the particulars. All these hybrids were males and 
very ungainly looking birds, without the beauty of either parent. 
