Part 25

"This," writes Jerdon, "is the most common and abundant species of Sand Grouse throughout India, being found in every part of the country except the more wooded portions, and never occurring in forest districts. It is therefore quite unknown in Malabar, in the wooded districts of Central India, and in Lower Bengal, and neither this, nor either of the previous species, as far as is known, occur to the eastwards, in Assam, Sylhet, or Burmah. Out of India, it is common through great part of Central and Western Asia and Northern Africa, and, it is stated, has been met with, though rarely, in Europe. This Sand Grouse frequents the bare open plains, whether rocky or otherwise, and is very partial to ploughed lands and bare fallow fields. It feeds chiefly in the morning, and between eight and nine a.m. goes to drink at some river or tank, at which in certain parts of the country thousands assemble, and may then be seen winging their way in larger or smaller parties from all quarters, at a great height, uttering their peculiar, loud, piercing call, which announces their vicinity to the sportsman long before he has seen them. They remain a few minutes at the water's edge, walking about and picking up fragments of sand or gravel, and then fly off as they came. In the hot weather, at all events, if not at all seasons, they drink again about four p.m. When they are seated on bare sand or rock they are most difficult to observe, from the similarity of their colour to that of the ground; sometimes they can be approached with ease near enough to get a good shot, at other times, especially if in large flocks, they are shy and wary. A small flock or single birds can often be approached very close by walking rapidly, not straight, but gradually towards them; in this way I have often walked up to within two or three yards of them. They feed on various hard seeds, especially on those of various _Alysicarpi_, _Desmodium_, &c., as well as on grass, seeds, or grain."

These Sand Grouse breed in the Deccan and Southern India from December to May, and in Central India still later. In some parts of the country, as at Mhow and Saugor, most of them leave the district after breeding in July, and do not return till the end of the rains. The eggs are laid on the bare ground, three or four in number, of cylindrical form, nearly equally thick at both ends, of a greenish stone-colour, thickly spotted with grey and brown. This species, if kept long enough, is very excellent eating, though the flesh is somewhat hard and tough, but with a high game flavour. The young birds, when nearly full-grown, are most excellent.

THE STRIPED SAND GROUSE.

The STRIPED SAND GROUSE (_Pterocles Lichtensteinii_) has the mantle and under side of a light greyish yellow, delicately striped with black; the brow and fore part of the head are whitish, and divided in the centre by a black line, that passes from the base of the bill to the top of the head, which, like the region of the cheek and the throat, is marked with dark spots instead of stripes. The mantle is enlivened by numerous bright yellow, crescent-shaped spots, and the upper breast decorated with a broad band of light brownish yellow, through which pass two lines, the one dark brown and the other light grey; the primaries are deep brown on the outer, and light brown on the inner, web; the secondaries brown at the root, with pure white outer web and black tip; the rounded tail--the centre feathers of which do not exceed the rest in length--is reddish yellow, each feather being delicately striped with black. The eye is dark brown, and the skin around it sulphur-yellow. The beak is dull orange; and the fore parts of the foot are copper-colour. This species is ten inches and two-thirds long, and twenty-one inches and a half broad; the wing measures seven and the tail two inches and a half. The female is without the dark line on the brow, and the reddish brown band upon her breast; her plumage is greyish yellow, striped very uniformly with delicate black lines. The Striped Sand Grouse, which closely resembles its congeners in its habits, is, according to Jerdon, common in Arabia, and occurs as a straggler in Scinde and the Punjaub.

PALLAS'S SAND GROUSE.

PALLAS'S SAND GROUSE (_Syrrhaptes paradoxus_), the representative of a group inhabiting Asia, is distinguished by the long bristle-like point in which the first wing-quill terminates, and by the shortness of its toes; these latter--three in number--are very broad, and so connected by a fold of skin as to present, when seen from beneath, the appearance of a foot-sole without toes. The claws are broad and strong, and the connecting skin covered with horny warts.

This Sand Grouse is fifteen inches long, without including the longest tail-feathers, and twenty-three inches broad, exclusive of the bristle-like wing-quills; the wing measures seven inches, and the tail four inches and a half, or seven inches inclusive of its central tail-feathers. The female is shorter and more slender than her mate. In this species, the top of the head and a line that commences at the eyes and passes over the sides of the throat are dark grey; the region of the head is separated from the greyish yellow breast by a band formed of delicate black and white lines; the upper belly is brownish black, its lower portion and the feathers of the middle tail-covers light grey; the throat, brow, a broad stripe over the eyes, and the back are clay-yellow, the latter striped with a deeper shade. The quills are dark grey, those at the exterior being bordered with black on the outer, and the rest with grey on the inner web; the shoulder-feathers are of a brownish hue, edged with yellow, and tipped with white, and those on the inner wing-covers yellowish brown, tipped with blackish brown; the plumage on the tarsi is yellowish white. The female is without the band upon her breast, and is of a paler shade upon the face and lower belly; her plumage is also rather spotted than striped.

These singular looking birds, respecting whose habits we have only recently received reliable information, inhabit Southern Europe, Africa, and Asia, living in dry sandy deserts, bare or rocky plains, or bushy or woody grounds, and are especially numerous in the neighbourhood of low hills. They are usually met with singly, or in pairs, except when such as occupy the desert plains resort to water, which they do in flocks. When flushed, they rise with a low chuckling call, fly for a short distance, and then alight. If followed, they run along the ground for a few steps, and with difficulty rise again. "Others, however," Dr. Smith tells us, "fly to a great height and suddenly descend, when they approach the water on their feeding grounds; sometimes this descent is not commenced till they are directly over the spot on which they purpose to alight. On such occasions they are obliged to make a circular or semi-circular sweep, before they can reach the desired locality." Their food consists of hard seeds, bulbs, and insects, mixed with fine gravel. The two eggs which are deposited on the bare ground are elliptical in form, about seventeen or eighteen lines long by twelve or thirteen lines broad at their centre, and have a greenish-greyish yellow shell, marked, dotted, and streaked with various shades of greyish brown; in some instances one end of the egg is decorated with a wreath of spots.

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The GROUSE TRIBE (_Tetraonidæ_) constitute the richest group of the entire order. These birds have a compact body, short neck, small head, and short powerful beak, with a thick base. The foot is short, the tarsus moderate; the wing of medium length, and usually much rounded; the tail is generally straight, but in some instances pointed or incised at its extremity. The thick plumage in most species extends over the entire body, even to the toes; some few also exhibit bare patches of brightly-tinted skin. The sexes are nearly alike in colour. The members of this tribe inhabit almost every latitude of the globe.

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The GROUSE PROPER (_Tetraones_) are recognisable by their powerful, compact bodies, short, or moderate-sized wings, and short straight tail; the latter, however, is occasionally long, and either wedge-shaped or forked at its extremity. The bill is strong, thick, short, and much vaulted, and the foot low and powerful, with more or less well-feathered tarsus. The plumage is thick and rich, the brow and nape often exhibit bare patches, covered with small horny plates of a bright red colour. The toes of some species are covered with a short and remarkable horny growth.

These birds are met with throughout the whole of Europe, Asia, and North America, but are quite unknown in Africa. All are, without exception, stationary in their habits, and rarely undertake expeditions to any great distance from their native haunts. During the period of incubation they live alone or in pairs, but at other times in parties, which often unite into large flocks. Their food consists of fruits, seeds, the young shoots of plants and trees, insects, and larvæ. Some species are polygamous, but many pair; in the latter case, at least, both males and females assist in rearing the young. Although by no means highly endowed, the _Tetraones_ have their sense of sight and hearing well developed. They walk quickly, but fly heavily, and with much noise, resorting but rarely to this means of progression, and never rising to any height in the air. The increase of these birds is very rapid, the female laying from eight to sixteen eggs, oval in shape, smooth, yellowish, and spotted with brown. No actual nest is prepared for their reception, a slight hollow in the earth, carelessly lined with some soft material, being all that is required for the purpose, provided that the situation is sufficiently retired to secure the safety of the young. We are told by several Swedish naturalists that not only are these birds subject, like their congeners, to many changes of plumage, but that they cast their claws, and at the same time the horny fringes with which their toes are defended.

THE CAPERCALI.

The CAPERCAILLIE, CAPERCAILZIE, or CAPERCALI (_Tetrao urogallus_), the largest and finest species of the above group, is of a blackish hue on the crown of the head and throat; the nape is deep grey, marked with undulating black lines; the back pale black, powdered with grey and reddish brown; the tail black, spotted here and there with white; the breast glossy steel-green, and the rest of the under side spotted more or less distinctly with black and white. The eye is brown, the bare skin that surrounds it bright red, and the beak greyish white. This noble bird is from two feet two inches to two feet five inches long, its breadth being from four feet four inches to four feet seven inches; the wing measures from fifteen to seventeen, and the tail from thirteen to fourteen inches.

"The Capercali," says Mr. Lloyd, "is to be found in most parts of the Scandinavian peninsula; indeed, as far to the north as the pine-tree flourishes, that is to say, very near to the North Cape itself. These birds are, however, very scarce in the more southern of the Swedish provinces. The favourite haunts of the Capercali are extensive fir-woods. In coppices or small covers they are seldom or never to be found." Professor Nilsson observes that such as breed in the larger forests remain there all the year round, but those on the contrary that breed on the sides of elevated mountains, or in more open parts of the country, in the event of deep snow, usually descend to the lower grounds.

The principal food of the Capercali, when in a state of nature, consists of the leaves and tender shoots of the Scotch fir (_Pinus sylvestris_). He very rarely feeds upon those of the spruce (_Pinus abies_). He also eats juniper-berries, blue berries, and other berries common to the northern forests, and also, occasionally in the winter time, the buds of the birch, &c. The young Capercali feed principally at first on ants, worms, and insects.

In the spring of the year, and often when the ground is still deeply covered with snow, the cock stations himself on a pine, and commences his love song, or _play_, as it is termed in Sweden, to attract the hens about him. This performance is usually carried on from the first dawn of day to sunrise, or from a little after sunset, until darkness has set in. The time, however, more or less depends upon the mildness of the weather, and the advanced state of the season. During his play the neck of the Capercali is stretched out, his tail is raised and spread like a fan, his wings droop, his feathers are ruffled up, and, in short, he much resembles in appearance an angry Turkey-cock. He begins his play with a call, something resembling the words "Peller, peller, peller." These sounds he repeats at first at some little intervals; but, as he proceeds, they increase in rapidity, until at the last, and after perhaps the lapse of a minute or so, he makes a sort of gulp in his throat, and finishes by drawing in his breath. During the continuance of this latter process, which only lasts a few seconds, the head of the Capercali is thrown up, his eyes are partially closed, and his whole appearance would denote that he is worked up into an agony of passion.

"On hearing the call of the cock, the hens, whose cry in some degree resembles the croak of the Raven, or rather, perhaps, the sound of 'gock, gock, gock,' assemble from all parts of the surrounding forest. The male bird now descends from the eminence on which he was perched to the ground, where he and his female friends join company.

"The Capercali does not play indiscriminately over the forest, but has certain stations, which may be called his playing grounds. These, however, are often of some little extent; and here, unless very much persecuted, the call of these birds may be heard in the spring, year after year, for years together. The Capercali does not during his play confine himself to any particular tree, and is seldom met with on the same spot for two days in succession. On these playing grounds several Capercali may occasionally be heard playing at the same time. Old male birds will not permit young birds, or those of the preceding season, to play. Should the old birds, however, be killed, the young ones, in the course of a day or two, usually open their pipes. Combats, as may be supposed, not unfrequently take place on these occasions, though I do not recollect having heard of more than two of these birds being engaged at the same time."

"The Capercali hen makes her nest upon the ground, and lays from six to twelve eggs; these are two inches three lines long, by one inch eight lines in breadth, and of a pale reddish yellow-brown, spotted all over with two shades of darker orange-brown. It is said she sits for four weeks; her young keep with her until the approach of winter, but the cocks separate from the mother before the hens. When the females really commence incubation, they are forsaken by the old males, who skulk about among the brushwood while renewing their plumage, the female alone attending to the hatching and rearing of her progeny."

"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."

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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.

THE BLACK COCK.

The BLACK COCK (_Lyrurus tetrix_) is principally of a rich black, relieved upon the head, throat, and lower back with a magnificent steel-blue sheen; the wings are enlivened by bands of pure white, the feathers on the lower tail-covers are also of snowy whiteness; the eye is brown, the pupil blueish black, and the beak black; the toes are greyish brown, the eye brown, and a bare patch around the eye bright red. In the female the prevailing colour of the plumage is a mixture of rusty yellow and rusty brown, marked with transverse stripes and spots of black. The length of the male is nearly two feet, and its breadth over three feet; the length of the wing is twelve inches, and that of the tail seven inches. The female is six inches shorter and nine inches narrower than her mate. The young in their first plumage resemble their mother; but in the first moult the black feathers of the young males appear about the sides and breast.