Volume 6, Plate XIII / Ornithology (Birds)

Wood Grouse or Capercailzie

Tetrao urogallus

Tetrao urogallus, the giant grouse, shows in the male a strong hooked bill, neck and back varied with brown, grey, and black, a black belly flecked white, and a forebreast of rich glossy green, reaching nearly three feet and fifteen pounds, the female smaller with crescent black on brown. Polygamous and shy of pine forests, it feeds on pine shoots, cones, birch catkins, and juniper berries, the male displaying with raised crest and loud cries, the hen hatching the young.