Cassell's book of birds; vol. 3

by Alfred Edmund Brehm

"While the Cock is thus parading to and fro," says Mr. Lloyd, "he frequently vaults high into the air, and in doing this 'slews' his body round, so that on alighting again his head is turned in an opposite direction." This season of admiration does not continue long, the females dispersing to seek a place for their eggs, and the males retreating to the shelter of the brushwood or brakes of fern, they are then seldom seen except early in the morning and evening. The nest of the "Grey Hen," as the female is commonly called, is very simple, being merely a hollow in the ground sheltered by a low bush or tuft of grass; the eggs are from six to twelve in number, about two inches long, and of a yellowish white colour, spotted and dotted with yellowish red. The mother has the entire charge of the young, both during and after incubation, and most zealously does she defend her trust, acutely distinguishing friends from foes, as the following anecdotes from the Zoologist will prove:—

"As Mr. W. S. Hurrel was crossing the hill between Carr Bridge and the Spey, on a fishing excursion, with some of his dogs following, one of them pointed, when a Grey Hen offered to do battle in defence of her brood, and flapping her wings like fanners, she with heroic bravery actually beat her canine antagonist and drove him crest-fallen away. Mr. Bass, M.P., and his friends who have taken the shootings around Carr Bridge are in the habit of giving presents to the herd-boys in the districts in order to engage them to preserve the nests, and if possible guard them from external violence. One of the keepers lately accosted one of these herd-boys, and in answer to several queries on the subject of nests, was told by the boy that in guarding the game from molestation he had no difficulty except with one nest, which was situated in a place much frequented by the cattle, and which he said must have been destroyed unless by some means protected. 'But,' continued the boy, 'I have built a little house of stones and turf about it, and that will prevent the cattle getting at it.' 'But,' said the keeper, 'you will certainly scare away the birds.' 'Oh, no,' replied the boy, 'I have left a little door for the hen to get in and out of, and she sits on her eggs as usual;' which the keeper on visiting the place found to be true."

The Black Cock is pursued with great zest in all countries of which it is a native—in Scandinavia various modes of warfare are resorted to.

"A very common plan of starting the Black Cock, in the winter time," says Mr. Lloyd, speaking of his Scandinavian experiences, "is with the aid of a bulvan, or artificial decoy bird. This is affixed to the top of a long and slender pole, or of two poles tied together, which is then hoisted a little above the top of a birch-tree, standing on an eminence, that it may be seen from a distance. The fowler then conceals himself in a screen constructed of a few fir-boughs, previously prepared for the purpose. Here he patiently awaits the coming of the birds, and when attracted by the bulvan, or driven towards it by people patrolling the country for the purpose, they alight in the tree on which the decoy is placed, or on those in the immediate vicinity, one or other of them usually meets its doom.

"At times two or three individuals take part in this amusement, and if there be several wooded knolls in the same locality, each may be occupied to advantage by a jägare and his bulvan, for as these birds, when alarmed at the shot, keep flying from one bulvan to the other, they are pretty sure of being killed sooner or later."

These bulvans seem to be very rudely constructed, for if a stuffed Black Cock be not procurable for a bulvan, "an imitation one may be made out of an old hat or piece of dark-coloured cloth. Two small patches of red cloth, one on each side of the head, represent the combs over the eyes, and two others of white stuff the white spots on the bird's shoulders. The tail of a veritable Black Cock is usually attached, but should this not be procurable, one made with black cloth, and lined with white, can be substituted in its stead. Legs are not required, the stick to which the bulvan is fastened supplying their place. At times, however, the bulvan is carved out of a piece of wood and afterwards painted." The Black Cock may be domesticated without much trouble, and instances are known of its having bred in captivity. "In the rural districts of Sweden," Mr. Lloyd tells us, "one often sees a caged Black Cock in the houses of the gentry, this bird being greatly admired by every one both for his beauty and for his spel, or song, which, though anything but musical, is wild and pleasing, and during the pairing season almost continual."

THE HYBRID GROUSE.

The HYBRID GROUSE (Tetrao medius). In this remarkable bird, a cross between the Black Cock and Capercali, the entire mantle is black, faintly marked with grey spots and zigzag lines; the upper wing is watered with blackish brown and grey; the secondary quills are enlivened by a brown whitish stripe, and edged with the same shade; the slightly-incised tail is black, occasionally with white tips to its feathers. The under side is black, the head and fore part of the neck gleam with a purple light, the sides of the body are powdered with grey and spotted with white; the plumage of the legs is white, and the tarsus blackish grey; the eye is dark brown; and the beak greyish black. The female sometimes resembles that of the Capercali, sometimes the Grey Hen; but it is smaller than either. The length of the male is from twenty-five to twenty-eight inches; that of his mate twenty-one to twenty-two inches.