CAPERCAILZIE. 
279 
but when, at an after period, he is joined by the hens, they 
act the part of his guardian angels. On the least appea,rance 
of peril, they, to put him on his guard, utter a peculiar kind of 
cackle, and should not this suffice to attract his attention, one 
or other of them will straightways fly past the tree on which he 
is perched, and at times so near to him as apparently to strike 
him with the tip of her wing, which unmistakable hint he cannot 
but comprehend, and, as a consequence, moves off at once 
‘ in the wake’ of his kind monitress. 
“ Happily but few hens, comparatively speaking, are shot at 
the Lek-stalle, partly because they are more wary than the cock, 
but chiefly, I take it, owing to the fowler having other and 
better game in view. Indeed, were a proportionate slaughtei 
to take place amongst them, the breed, in some parts of Scan- 
dinavia, must soon become extinct. As it is, the cocks are so 
ruthlessly shot down during the pairing season that a laige 
portion of hens are unable to find mates ; and hence the 
number of barren birds one meets with in the 
forest. Were people to refrain from killing the cocks until the 
spring is well advanced, and pairing for the most part over, no 
great harm would be done, and they still might have ample 
amusement; for the cocks, especially the young ones, continue, 
as said, to spel until the middle of May, or it may be even 
longer. 
“ The number of Capercali — of cock', I speak that a man 
may thus kill at the Lek-stdlle within a given time depends 
greatly on circumstances. If, for instance, the weather be 
boisterous, or there be a crust on the snow, which in more 
northern parts of Scandinavia often remains on the ground 
until late in the spring, it may happen that even the most 
experienced chasseur will hardly kill a single bird in a week ; 
but under favourable circumstances, on the contrary, a good 
deal may be done. I, myself, have known more than one man 
to shoot from five to six of these birds in the course of the 
morning and evening of the same day, but one or two is a 
more usual number. A peasant in the interior, hovvever, who 
knows what he is about, and devotes much of his time to the 
purpose as many do, will probably kill from fifteen to twenty 
cocks during the spring. I was, indeed, assured by an 
acquaintance of mine, who resided in the heart of Wermeland 
