CAPERCAILLIE 
be captured, having fought till they are so completely exhausted that they 
are unable to move. One or other of the birds engaged is not unfrequently 
left dead on the battle-field. 
While the cock is uttering his “ spel,” it is the custom in many 
countries to stealthily stalk and shoot it. A careful advance is made during 
the moments of ecstasy, and while the bird is careless of surrounding 
objects, the hunter gradually gets within shooting distance. 
During the rest of the year the cock is a very silent bird, but occasionally, 
like the blackcock, he makes a pseudo -erotic display in autumn, and 
utters his love -song in the early morning and evening. The usual call 
of the female resembles the syllables coq coq^ and when wounded both 
sexes utter a peculiar hissing sound, and spread out their feathers, but 
they rarely, if ever, attempt to defend themselves. 
Towards the end of April the hens seek their nesting -places, and many 
leave the higher woods for the low grounds, where they remain with their 
broods till the autumn. 
Nest . — ^The nest is merely a hollow scraped in the ground by the female 
among heather, blaeberry, and bracken in woods and forests. A favourite 
place is at the base of a stump or among the branches of a fallen tree. 
Unusual sites are occasionally resorted to, and nests have been found in 
trees ten or fifteen feet from the ground. 
Eggs . — ^The eggs vary considerably in number, from four, five, or six, 
to as many as twelve. When more are found in one nest, they are probably 
the produce of more than one female. They are generally laid in May, 
but sometimes not till early in June in the higher woods. The eggs are 
pale brownish-buff, spotted with reddish-brown, and are much like those 
laid by the greyhen, but somewhat larger, measuring on the average 
2*2 inches by 1*6 inch. 
Incubation lasts for about thirty days. 
General habits . — ^The female capercaillie cannot be called a good mother. 
She is easily put off her nest, and is more careless than other game-birds 
with her young, losing many by leading them, soon after they are hatched, 
over drains in the woods, and out of which they are unable to scramble. 
An instance of this came under the writer’s notice when procuring a group 
of these birds for the Natural History Museum. Out of twelve nests in- 
spected in one wood, one with twelve eggs was finally selected and closely 
watched till the young had been hatched. 
At 5 a.m. one morning the keeper reported that the hen had taken off 
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