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The males of almost all gallinaceous birds, even those which are not furnished with spurs, engage during the breeding-season in fierce conflicts. Dr. W. Kovalevsky informs me that in Russia he has seen the snow all bloody on the arenas where the capercailzie have fought; and the black-cocks "make the feathers fly in every direction," when several "engage in a battle royal."
When a Nordlander speaks of birds he does not mean as they do here, only a head or two of game, but an aërial throng of winged creatures, rippling through the sky, flying round the rocks, like white foam, or descending like a snowstorm on their nesting-places; he thinks of eider-duck, guillemot, diver and oyster-catcher swimming in fjord and sound, or sitting upon the rocks; of gulls, ospreys and eagles, hunting in the air; of the eagle-owl, hooting weirdly at night in the mountain-clefts in short, he means a whole world of birds, and has a little difficulty in confining his ideas to the poor capercailzie, surprised and killed by a sportsman in the midst of a love-frolic, when the sun is rising over the pine-clad hills.
Her Majesty drove about daily, enjoying the magnificent scenery, or by the banks of Tay, to see Lord Breadalbane's American buffaloes; while Prince Albert had sport nineteen roe-deer on the first day, besides hares, pheasants, grouse, and a capercailzie, all which trophies were spread out before the house.
As I passed a grey hen flew out of one of the holes, and, looking back, I saw several black cocks and grey hens flying away. It is more likely that they had made their own holes to shelter in rather than that these were marmot holes. Ptarmigan often greet one on the higher ridges and sometimes a capercailzie will get up with a noise which is very apt to upset one.
Besides, seeing him was like a bit of Scotland their auerhahn is kin to the black-cock and capercailzie. So I marked him to the skirt of Thusis, yonder in line with that needle across the gulf and, through it, to that bunch of pinkish-stemmed pines there where the brook falls into silver dust above that gorge. He'll lie there. Just before daybreak he'll mount to the top of one of those pines.
Americana: Birds, p. 362. References in regard to the assemblages of other birds have already been given. On Paradisea, see Wallace, in 'Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist. vol. xx. 1857, p. 412. Some of the above birds, the black-cock, capercailzie, pheasant-grouse, ruff, solitary snipe, and perhaps others, are, as is believed, polygamists.
Koppen, F.T., on the migratory locust. Koraks, marriage customs of. Kordofan, protuberances artificially produced by natives of. Korte, on the proportion of sexes in locusts; Russian locusts. Kovalevsky, A., on the affinity of the Ascidia to the Vertebrata. Kovalevsky, W., on the pugnacity of the male capercailzie; on the pairing of the capercailzie.
Soon there will be nothing but the great sheep and the little grouse. The capercailzie's gone, and the ptarmigan's gone! Well, there's a world beyond!" "Where the birds go, Annie? Well, it may be! But the ptarmigan's not gone yet, though there are not many; and for the capercailzie only who that loves them will be here to see!
Lloyd, L., on the polygamy of the capercailzie and bustard; on the numerical proportion of the sexes in the capercailzie and blackcock; on the salmon; on the colours of the sea-scorpion; on the pugnacity of male grouse; on the capercailzie and blackcock; on the call of the capercailzie; on assemblages of grouse and snipes; on the pairing of a shield-drake with a common duck; on the battles of seals; on the elk.
The eagle, pheasant, capercailzie, quail, parrot, locust-bird, becafico, and humming-bird are rare; the remainder are all tolerably common. Besides these, we know that in ancient times ostriches wore found within the limits of the Empire, though now they have retreated further south into the Great Desert of Arabia.
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