THE GUN AT HOME AND ABROAD 
Like other comb -toed grouse » such as the capercaillies and hazel- 
hens and the various allied forms found in North America, black -game 
spend much of their time in the trees, where they are perfectly at home. 
One of the most beautiful sights in the world is a number of blackcocks 
and greyhens feeding on the buds of the birch -trees with the sun shining 
on their burnished plumage. On some of the small islands in Loch Ard, 
in Southern Perthshire, I have frequently watched them thus, and so 
tame that they scarcely took any notice of the passing fishing boats. The 
ease with which these heavy birds moved about among the slim birches, 
and their graceful movements as they picked off the buds was truly 
astonishing. On the ground their natural gait is slow and dignified, but 
if wounded they can run very swiftly, and if not looked for immediately 
are often lost. They often roost on the ground among the heather and 
juniper bushes, but also in the Scotch firs. 
Though often found far out in the open moor, the true home of the black 
grouse is lower down the hill -sides, where woods of fir and birch afford 
the seclusion it loves. The sides of rocky mountain-streams, clad with 
heather and bracken and with scattered birch and rowan trees, are 
favourite resorts ; likewise reed -beds, clumps of alder growing in marshy 
situations, and young fir- and larch -plantations. The cultivated lands 
in the immediate neighbourhood of the woods they frequent are much 
resorted to, and they may frequently be found feeding in the early 
morning and afternoon both on the stubble-fields and among the standing 
crops, while reference has been already made to their partiality for 
turnips. 
Hybrids . — ^Hybrids between the male of this species and the female 
capercaillie are by no means rare ; it also occasionally crosses with the 
red grouse, willow-grouse and hazel-hen, and more commonly with the 
pheasant, the Rev. F. G. R. Jourdain having recorded at least fifty 
known examples of the latter. (“ Zoologist,” September, 1906.) 
The male hybrid with the capercaillie is a large and very handsome 
bird, with the tail somewhat forked. It is easily recognized by the purple 
gloss on the chest, quite unlike the glossy green chest of the male caper- 
caillie or the steel-blue chest of the blackcock. (Plate V.) 
The female of this hybrid is much like the greyhen, and for that reason 
is no doubt often overlooked, but it may be recognized by having a nearly 
square tail and the under tail -coverts shorter than the middle pair of 
tail-feathers, which are about equal to the outer pair. 
30 
