and one near Lightcliffe: in N o r t h u m b e r l a n d they are very abundant.
I n d i v i d u a l s have at different times been turned out in Norfolk, and
a few arc still occasionally met with in those localities; a female was
s h o t at Clenchwarton, near Lynn, about the last week i n A p r i l , 1852.
I n Somersetshire, they breed on the Quantock and Blackdown Hills,
near Taunton, and in Devonshire, on the moors—now they are rare.
A Grey Hen was observed in N o r t h a m p t o n s h i r e , in September, 1849,
near < 'ranford, the seat of Sir George Robinson, Bart., and afterwards
near Grafton Park; the following May and J u n e , her nest
containing ten eggs was observed. In Sherwood Forest, Nottinghams
h i r e , and the New Forest, H a m p s h i r e , it is also located; one, a Grey
H e n , is recorded by J. B. Ellman, Esq., in the ' Z o o l o g i s t / page 3330,
as having been caught near Lewes, Sussex, on the 30th. of October,
1851: the cock bird was seen at the same time. One, a female, was
shot near Hampton Court, Herefordshire, the seat of J. A r k w r i g h t,
E s q . , in March, 18-50; another, also a female, was found dead at
Elveden, in Suffolk, on the 12th. of October, 1844; a male had been
seen in the adjoining parish the first week in September. One was
c a p t u r e d on Urchfont Down, near Devizes, W i l t s h i r e , in April, 1851,
by a gamekeeper of Lord Brought on De Gilford; one shot near Forest
H i l l , Oxfordshire, in October, 1836. They breed r e g u l a r l y near Axmouth,
Devonshire, and also on Bxmoor, Dartmoor, and Sedgemoor.
1 n < 'ornwall it is stated to be very rare.
These birds have now become quite localized in various parts of
the neighbourhood of W i n d e r m e r e , Westmoreland, having made their
first appearance in that district in 1845. They are found in Surrey,
in St. Leonard's Forest, near Horsham, Tilford, and Hindhead, Farnham,
Bagshot, Guildford, and Dorking, celebrated for another breed
of fowl, and in which neighbourhood, at H u r t w o o d , in the year 1815,
I I . M. T h o r n t o n , Esq., of Chobham, also recently so famous for the
military camp there, t u r n e d out five b i r d s : the race had before existed
there, but had been extinct about fifty years. They arc found
also in Shropshire, near Corwcn, and in other p a r t s ; and in Staffords
h i r e ; also, it is said, in Worcestershire and Lancashire, and near
Finchamstead, in Berkshire. In Northamptonshire two hens were
formerly obtained.
I n Scotland it is abundant in S u t h c r l a n d s h i r e , Dumfriesshire, Caithness,
and Galloway, in East Lothian, on the Lammermuir hills, and
in many other p a r t s , and some, of its islands—Mull, Skye, and others,
and, Selby says, in some of the Hebrides. It is also met with in
some parts of Wales, where it is strictly preserved.
I t s natural resorts are the lower parts of hills and valleys where
there is a natural growth of b i r c h , alder, and willow trees, and a wild
vegetation prevails of fern and h e a t h e r , woods and h e r b a g e , affording
it a shelter, and also water, near which it is only to be found, whether
t h e morass or the mountain stream.
I t is a singular circumstance in the natural history of this bird, as
pointed out to me by Mr. D. M. Falconer, of Loan Head, E d i n b u r g h,
that the female does not begin to breed until three years old. This
fact he seems, b y the account he has sent to me, to h a v e established.
I f alarmed, they fly off to a place of s e c u r i t y , or drop and remain motionless
till the danger has passed. In the winter and the early p a r t of the
spring, they are more shy than at other times. They are fine eating.
The male birds are polygamous, and after leaving the females and the
young, keep by themselves in small flights in the autumn and winter,
when they flock or crowd, as the proper word is, l i v i n g amicably
together; some, however, rejoin the broods, and may be seen basking
in the sun with them on the hill side in the middle of the day,
but in the s p r i n g the ' o r g a n of comhativeness' is developed, and they
exhibit considerable animosity towards each other, and may at such
times be easily approached, when intent on battle. In these conflicts
t h e y fight in the same manner as the game cock, with tail raised
and spread and the head lowered, each leaping up against his match,
and striking at him. The winner takes possession of the homestead
he has won, and there, no ' N o i r F a i n e a n t , ' each morning and evening
he gallantly struts, t r a i l i n g his wings over the ground, and with outspread
tail, throat puffed out, and the brilliant wattle swelled, both
challenges with his harsh note the admiration of the females, and
bids defiance to all comers.
They are restless and wild before rain. Both birds endeavour to
d r aw away i n t r u d e r s from the brood, and the hen is the first to
rise after r u n n i n g some way off, and then in an apparently disabled
manner. At the beginning of the season they lie very close, so as
often to allow themselves to be taken with the h a n d , but later on
they go in packs, and become very wild; sometimes h u n d r e d s assemble
together. It has been attempted to domesticate them, but without
success. Like other birds they are fond of catching the last rays of
the sun in winter, and arc to be seen basking for the purpose in
the afternoon on the bright side of a bank, or sunning themselves
on the topmost bough of some small fir tree which bends beneath
t h e i r weight.
They fly in a heavy manner, and in a direct line, at a tolerably
fast rate, and can on occasion proceed to a considerable distance.
Their proper station is on the ground, where they walk about