"Except there be deep snow upon the ground," says Mr. Lloyd, "the Capercali is much upon the ground in the daytime; very commonly, however, he sits in the pines, sometimes on the very uppermost branches. During the night he generally roosts in the trees; but if the winter be very cold, he not unfrequently buries himself in the snow. Considering the large size of the bird, his flight is not particularly heavy or noisy; indeed, I have not only seen the Capercali at a very considerable height in the air, but I have known him to take a flight of several miles at a time. During the winter he is in most instances to be seen perched on the very uppermost branches of the pines."
"The Capercali lives to a considerable age; at least, so we infer from the cocks not attaining their full growth until their third year, or upwards. The old ones may be easily known from their greater bulk, their eagle-like bill, and the more beautiful glossiness of their plumage. The size of these birds, I have reason to suppose, depends in a great degree on the latitude where they are found."
Pennant, in his "British Zoology," speaking of the Capercali, says, "This species is found in no other part of Great Britain than the Highlands of Scotland north of Inverness, and is very rare even in those parts. In our country I have seen one specimen, a male, killed in the woods of Mr. Chisholme, to the north of Inverness."
Of late years successful attempts have been made to restore this bird to Scotland, and in 1836 Mr. Lloyd procured for Sir T. Fowell Buxton forty-nine Capercali, male and female. These he presented to his friend Lord Breadalbane, by whom they were reared with such success that about Taymouth Castle they became as common as the Black Cock, and spread thence over all the more wooded parts of the Highlands as far as Aberdeen, and have grown so tame that a carriage might be driven under the trees on which the hens are perched without their taking the slightest notice.
Although the Capercali is exceedingly shy in its native wilds, it sometimes divests itself of its shyness and approaches people fearlessly; and this, says Mr. Lloyd, in his amusing volume on the "Game Birds of Sweden and Norway," "has occasionally given rise in Sweden to the notion that it is actually 'possessed.'" "About this time last year," Lieutenant Jack relates, "whilst the cottager Anders Pehrsson, of Bengtsbo, in the province of Westmarland, was collecting brushwood in the forest, a Capercali cock, without showing the smallest apprehension, came and alighted on the ground immediately near him. The old belief in Troll-Foglar, or enchanted birds, once so common, and which is still retained by a portion of the peasantry, could not but have its effect on the man from such clear and conclusive evidence. With this crotchet in his head, he therefore hastened to the Klockare, or clerk of the parish, named Pettersson, who was also its oracle, residing at a distance of about an English mile from the spot, and related to him what had happened. Pettersson, who professed not to have the most distant apprehension of the Troll and their emissaries, at once put his gun in order, and, accompanied by Pehrsson, repaired to the spot indicated, which the Capercali had not yet quitted. The Klockare advanced to within a few paces of the bird, and pulled the trigger, but the gun 'clicked.' It was cocked a second and a third time, though with the same result. The flint is now hammered, and fire at length produced, though confined to a flash in the pan. The ardour of the sportsman rose to its highest pitch. How provoking! neither pricker nor other instrument to clear the touch-hole. These had been forgotten in the hurry of departure from home. As a substitute a pointed piece of wood is had recourse to; but it breaks short off in the touch-hole, and only makes matters worse. All this while the Capercali remains motionless, a quiet spectator of the enemy's proceedings. The Klockare, on his part, gazes at the bird, and that with a feeling somewhat akin to awe. He is on the point of sharing his comrade's belief in förtrollning, or enchantment. Once more, however, he musters up courage, and, renewing his endeavours, finally succeeds in clearing the touch-hole; fresh priming is then put in the pan, but when all is in readiness, and he is prepared to discharge his piece, the bird, which hitherto had not budged an inch from the spot, suddenly takes wing. Our Nimrod is just about to give vent to his feelings, and pour maledictions on his villainous weapon, when, to his joy, he sees the bird alight on a tree within an easy distance. To place the gun to his shoulder and fire is now the work of a moment, and to the undisguised delight, not to say astonishment, of both our doughty knights of the chase, the old blunderbuss went off with a loud bang, and the Troll-bird gave up the ghost."
"In Scandinavia," continues Mr. Lloyd, "the Capercali is in considerable request for the table. It is more palatable, however, during the autumnal months, when it lives for the most part on berries and the like, than in the winter, when its food consists of pine-leaves, which give it a somewhat resinous flavour. In Wermeland and the adjacent country it is a standing dish at the last-named season at the houses of the gentry, who usually lay in an ample supply of these birds at the setting in of the frost. On the occasion of births, marriages, and deaths with the peasantry, the Capercali is looked upon as a needful addition to the feast. With them it is eaten either simply boiled or first parboiled and afterwards roasted until hard as a stone, in which state it will keep for weeks or months."
The HEATH COCKS (Lyrurus) represent a group of slenderly-formed birds, possessing short, arched, and rounded wings, the third quill of which exceeds the rest in length. The tail, composed of eighteen feathers, is in the female very slightly excised at its extremity, but in the male is so deeply forked as to present somewhat the form of a lyre. The powerful beak is of moderate size; the foot has its exterior and inner toes of equal length, and is completely covered with feathers. The very glossy plumage exhibited by the members of this group may be regarded as their most distinguishing characteristic, the male in particular being remarkable for the resplendent brilliance that adorns his feathers.
