Urogallus vulgaris, Cock of the Wood, Flem. Brit* An. p. 46. |
Tetrao urogallWy Wood -Grouse, Vçrt. p. 168. '
» Capercailzie, Gould, .Birds of Europe, pt. xvii.
>> „ Tétras auerhan. Temm. Man. d’Oraith.vol. ii. p.457.
T etrao.—Generic*. Characters.—-Bill short, strong ^upper mandible convex,
and arched From the base to the tip. Nostrils basal, lateral, partly closed by an
arched scale, and hidden from view by small closely-set feathers. Space above
the eye naked, .the ■ skin red with papillae add' fringed. Wings' short and
rounded in form ; the fifth quill-feather the longest. Tail of sixteen feathers.
Feet with the toes naked, three in front united as far as the first j oiht, and one
toe behind,-short, the edges of all pectinated. - Tarsi feathered to the junction
of the toesc
T he liberal and persevering endeavours of several nobler
men td re-establisb the Wood Grouse* ^pr Capercaillie,. , in
this country having been successful, to a certain extent," in
one district of Scotland, as .the details.to be.here related-will
show, I have inserted this fine • species in its ..proper place at
the head of our Grouse.
The term Capercaillie is derived from the Gaelic,"^Capull-
coille, which means literally the horse' of the. wood': this
species being in-comparison with the others of the genus -pre-
eminently large, this distinction is intended to refer to size,
as it is usual now to'say horse-mackerel, horsWnL Jiorse-fly,
horse-leach, and horse-radish. The Latin specific term urogallus,
the German auerhan, and the Dutch ouerhan, refer
in the same way to size. Urus,. is a wild-bull, and the names
bullfinch, bullhead, bulltrout, bullfrog, and bullrush, are
applied to species of large size in Zoology and Botany. Pennant
says, that north of Inverness the Wood Grouse was also
known by the names Caper-calze, and Auer-calze. This
bird formerly existed in Ireland, and the last was said to
have been killed about the year 1760. The last, of them
killed in Scotland, and near Inverness, happened later than
the year just recorded.
The most recent, as well as the best, account of the habits
of this noble bird that I ain acquainted with is furnished by
L. Lloyd,' Esq. in his Field .Sports of-the North of Europe,
written during^a residence j n Sweden and Norway; and as
the- opportunity* of studying this bird in his native; forests
Occurs to >bufci£ew; I hope* I shall be excused’ for' selecting
from this v,ety interesting work a portion of the . following
pages, f
“ Thg/Capercalitis-'. tq be .found in most parts .of the Scandinavian
peninsula indeed^apjfafc.to the north.as. pine
tree flourishes, which isvve^y-near to .the North Cape itself.
':*Théser birds are, however^"very! sparee in the mór,qt southern
o f thh^Swedishvprovin'cës.* .The favouritejhaünts^ the Ca-
percali are/extensiv^Ër.’woods. In Coppices;, or small cover,
hel|is 'seldom or n ^er^ io be found. Professor Nilsson observes
.th a t' thosel which- breed in the • larger .forests remain
there allfüie' yeaKround.;^.b|i|| those which;,oon the- contrary, 1
Breed on the j^dern of • elevated mountains,: or in a:more open
par-t of theidonêtry, in the-'Cyent of deep snow;,vusiially fall
’down to the lower grounds *’T ,
T15p principal foód-of the «Capercali, when in a stfte
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, cranberries, blpeberries, and other .berries common
to the northern forests; and occasionally also, in the winter
timé, the buds of thé birch, &e. The young Capercali feed
principally at first on ants, worms, insects, Sec.
“ In the spring of the year, and often when the ground is
Still deeply- cö ver ed' with snow, the cock stations himself on a
pine, and commences his love-song, or play, as it is termed in
Sweden, to attract thehens about him. This is usually from
the first dawn of day to sunrise, or from a little after sunset
until it is quite dark* The time,, howéver, more or less,
depends upon the mildness of the weather, and the advanced
u 2