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.
[Illustration: THE BLACK COCK (_Lyrurus tetrix_).]
The Black Cock is generally distributed over the European continent, being
found in Germany, Holland, France, and, according to Savi, in Italy. In
the north, it is met with in Scandinavia, Russia, Siberia, and Lapland.
It is said at one time to have been frequent in Ireland, but has long
since disappeared. In England it is met with on heathy hills and forest
districts, becoming more plentiful toward the borders of Scotland, and
is found in considerable abundance in the mountainous and wooded parts
of that country. Its favourite haunts are the low slopes of hills, in
which brushwood and coppice alternate with heather and fern, and rocky,
well-wooded glens. In spring and summer its food consists of leaf-buds,
the tops of heather, berries of various plants growing among the heath,
insects, larvæ, and sometimes corn and seeds from the neighbouring fields.
In winter this supply is diminished to the tender tops of shoots of
birch, fir, and heath, and vaccinia and juniper berries. In spring and
summer, these birds live apart in families, but in the autumn and winter
remain together in flocks, which, when snow is on the ground, roam from
place to place in search of food.
"Unlike the Capercali, which mostly roosts in trees," says Mr. Lloyd,
"the Black Cock almost invariably passes the night on the ground, and in
the winter, more especially if the cold be intense, it not seldom _buries
itself in the snow_." Nilsson indeed supposes that the bird only makes a
hollow in the snow and allows itself to be covered by the falling flakes;
but Mr. Lloyd assures us that the bird makes a regular burrow for itself,
the depth depending, it is generally believed, on the mildness or severity
of the weather. "Scores of times," he says, "when crossing glades and
other openings in the forest, where the surface of the snow, to the casual
observer, appeared to be as smooth as glass, one or more Black Cocks
have suddenly emerged from beneath the snow, almost at my feet, and when
expecting every moment others to follow I have carefully looked about me,
I never could discover anything beyond the slightest indentation in the
snow where the bird had burrowed, the hole itself being filled up by the
sides collapsing; and yet perhaps within the next minute half a score of
Black Cocks would fly up all around me. That their heads were above the
surface previously to their leaving the snow I hold to be impossible, nor
can I conceive that even their beaks protruded as others will have it.
If air be needful to birds when thus imbedded in the snow, their beak no
doubt forms an imperceptible orifice, through which they are enabled to
respire."
In addition to his own experiences in the matter, Mr. Lloyd quotes the
observations of the amusing though sometimes "marvel-relating" Bishop
Oppidam: "In the winter-time the Black Grouse take care of themselves in
this manner: they first fill their craw with as much food as it will hold,
till it hangs like a bag under their necks, whereby they are provided for
something to live on for some time; then they will drop themselves down
into the soft snow and do not stay in their first hole, but undermine
and burrow in the snow some fathoms from it; and there they make a small
opening for their bills, and thus be warm and comfortable."
In the warm days of early spring these birds resort to their pairing
ground, for unless they have been disturbed, they frequent the same place
year after year. "The places selected at such seasons," says Sir W.
Jardine, "are generally elevations, such as the turf enclosure of a former
sheep-fold, which has been disused and is now grown over, or some of those
beautiful spots of fresh and grassy pasture, which are well known to the
inhabitants of a pastoral district. Here, after perhaps many battles have
been fought and rivals vanquished, the noble, full-dressed Black Cock
takes his stand, commencing at the first dawn of day, and where game is
abundant, the hill on every side repeats his humming call; he struts round
the spots selected, trailing his wings, inflating his throat and neck, and
puffing up the plumage of these parts and the now brilliant wattle above
the eyes, raising and expanding his tail and displaying the beautifully
contrasting white under tail-covers." (See engraving, p. 185.)
"While the Cock is thus parading to and fro," says Mr. Lloyd, "he
frequently vaults high into the air, and in doing this 'slews' his body
round, so that on alighting again his head is turned in an opposite
direction." This season of admiration does not continue long, the females
dispersing to seek a place for their eggs, and the males retreating to
the shelter of the brushwood or brakes of fern, they are then seldom seen
except early in the morning and evening. The nest of the "Grey Hen," as
the female is commonly called, is very simple, being merely a hollow in
the ground sheltered by a low bush or tuft of grass; the eggs are from
six to twelve in number, about two inches long, and of a yellowish white
colour, spotted and dotted with yellowish red. The mother has the entire
charge of the young, both during and after incubation, and most zealously
does she defend her trust, acutely distinguishing friends from foes, as
the following anecdotes from the _Zoologist_ will prove:--
"As Mr. W. S. Hurrel was crossing the hill between Carr Bridge and the
Spey, on a fishing excursion, with some of his dogs following, one of them
pointed, when a Grey Hen offered to do battle in defence of her brood, and
flapping her wings like fanners, she with heroic bravery actually beat her
canine antagonist and drove him crest-fallen away. Mr. Bass, M.P., and his
friends who have taken the shootings around Carr Bridge are in the habit
of giving presents to the herd-boys in the districts in order to engage
them to preserve the nests, and if possible guard them from external
violence. One of the keepers lately accosted one of these herd-boys,
and in answer to several queries on the subject of nests, was told by
the boy that in guarding the game from molestation he had no difficulty
except with one nest, which was situated in a place much frequented by
the cattle, and which he said must have been destroyed unless by some
means protected. 'But,' continued the boy, 'I have built a little house of
stones and turf about it, and that will prevent the cattle getting at it.'
'But,' said the keeper, 'you will certainly scare away the birds.' 'Oh,
no,' replied the boy, 'I have left a little door for the hen to get in and
out of, and she sits on her eggs as usual;' which the keeper on visiting
the place found to be true."
The Black Cock is pursued with great zest in all countries of which it is
a native--in Scandinavia various modes of warfare are resorted to.
"A very common plan of starting the Black Cock, in the winter time," says
Mr. Lloyd, speaking of his Scandinavian experiences, "is with the aid of a
_bulvan_, or artificial decoy bird. This is affixed to the top of a long
and slender pole, or of two poles tied together, which is then hoisted a
little above the top of a birch-tree, standing on an eminence, that it
may be seen from a distance. The fowler then conceals himself in a screen
constructed of a few fir-boughs, previously prepared for the purpose. Here
he patiently awaits the coming of the birds, and when attracted by the
_bulvan_, or driven towards it by people patrolling the country for the
purpose, they alight in the tree on which the decoy is placed, or on those
in the immediate vicinity, one or other of them usually meets its doom.
"At times two or three individuals take part in this amusement, and if
there be several wooded knolls in the same locality, each may be occupied
to advantage by a _jägare_ and his _bulvan_, for as these birds, when
alarmed at the shot, keep flying from one _bulvan_ to the other, they are
pretty sure of being killed sooner or later."
These _bulvans_ seem to be very rudely constructed, for if a stuffed Black
Cock be not procurable for a _bulvan_, "an imitation one may be made out
of an old hat or piece of dark-coloured cloth. Two small patches of red
cloth, one on each side of the head, represent the combs over the eyes,
and two others of white stuff the white spots on the bird's shoulders.
The tail of a veritable Black Cock is usually attached, but should this
not be procurable, one made with black cloth, and lined with white, can
be substituted in its stead. Legs are not required, the stick to which
the _bulvan_ is fastened supplying their place. At times, however, the
_bulvan_ is carved out of a piece of wood and afterwards painted." The
Black Cock may be domesticated without much trouble, and instances are
known of its having bred in captivity. "In the rural districts of Sweden,"
Mr. Lloyd tells us, "one often sees a caged Black Cock in the houses of
the gentry, this bird being greatly admired by every one both for his
beauty and for his _spel_, or song, which, though anything but musical, is
wild and pleasing, and during the pairing season almost continual."