The food of the cock capercaillie consists principally of the leaves and young shoots of the Scotch pine; and during the breeding-season these appear to form its sole nutriment. At other times he also consumes the leaves of deciduous trees, together with cranberries, whortleberries, juniper-berries, and grass, and sometimes a few insects or worms. On the other hand, the hens, which spend much more time on the ground than the cocks, and the young feed largely upon ants and other insects, worms, etc.; this being especially the case with the young birds.
The capercaillie is a polygamous bird, and in the spring—sometimes while the snow is still thick on the ground—each cock takes up a position on a tall pine, and commences his nuptial performance or spel, as it is called in Norway. This spel usually lasts from early dawn to sunrise, and is repeated from sunset till dark; but the time varies somewhat according to the state of the weather and the temperature. During this amatory performance the cock stretches out his neck, raises and spreads out his wings like a fan, ruffles his feathers, and assumes an appearance which has been compared to that of an angry turkey. A call, which has been expressed by the words peller, peller, peller, is uttered with continually increasing rapidity, and concludes with a gulp and an indrawing of the breath, when the bird throws up his head, closes his eyes, and appears to be in a paroxysm of passion.
At the sound of the cock’s call all the hens in the neighbourhood rush to the place, uttering cries somewhat like the croak of a raven; and when they have assembled on the ground below the cock descends from his perch to join the party.
In Scotland, capercaillie-shooting takes place from 10th August till 20th December; but in some parts of the Continent, as in Poland, for instance, the calling-season is the time for this sport, which is so highly esteemed, that in Hungary and Poland a tablet is fixed in the shooting-lodges to commemorate the death of each bird.
THE SQUIRREL
(Sciurus vulgaris)
OF all the smaller animals inhabiting the forests of Great Britain and the Continent, none is better known, more graceful in its actions, or more charming in its appearance than the squirrel, the typical representative of a vast family of rodents, second in number only to the members of the mouse tribe, and having an almost cosmopolitan distribution, although unknown in Australia. The European species, like the great majority of its immediate relatives, is completely arboreal in its habits, and frequents for choice dry and shady forests where there is abundance of tall trees. Its range includes practically the whole of Europe and a considerable portion of northern Asia; but, as might be expected, there is considerable local variation in the matter of colour in different parts of this extensive area, and the British squirrel differs markedly from the typical Swedish representative of the species. There are, moreover, especially in the British race, seasonal changes of colour, which render its appearance very different.
During the winter months the British squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris leucurus) is a foxy coloured rodent, with long tufts of hair to the summits of the ears and the tail practically the same colour as the body. In the spring the long winter coat of the head and body is exchanged for a shorter summer dress and the ears lose their tufts; but the hairs of the tail are not changed, and consequently become dirty white, owing to the bleaching effect of light on their colour. This dirty white or cream-coloured tint of the tail in summer is absolutely characteristic of the British squirrel; and it may be added that even in winter this appendage is much less red than in many continental squirrels, being in fact reddish brown.
In the typical squirrel (S. v. typicus), of southern Norway and Sweden, the body in summer has a brownish red coat very similar to that of the British race; but the tail is red, and does not bleach when the hairs are old and worn. In winter the body-coat is soft greyish brown in colour, with traces of the summer tint along the middle line of the back and on the limbs. We now come to the subject of our illustration, which shows the German race of the squirrel (S. v. rutilans) in its winter coat. In this variety the colour is bright red at all seasons, although there is a tinge of light smoky grey along the flanks in winter; the tail being at all seasons bright rufous, often rather darker than the body. There is, however, a brown phase of this race; and all continental squirrels exhibit a more or less marked tendency towards individual melanism.
