Cassell's book of birds; vol. 3Brehm, Alfred Edmund
Science
Cassell's book of birds; vol. 3
Brehm, Alfred Edmund
Birds
Of late years successful attempts have been made to restore this bird
to Scotland, and in 1836 Mr. Lloyd procured for Sir T. Fowell Buxton
forty-nine Capercali, male and female. These he presented to his friend
Lord Breadalbane, by whom they were reared with such success that about
Taymouth Castle they became as common as the Black Cock, and spread thence
over all the more wooded parts of the Highlands as far as Aberdeen, and
have grown so tame that a carriage might be driven under the trees on
which the hens are perched without their taking the slightest notice.
Although the Capercali is exceedingly shy in its native wilds, it
sometimes divests itself of its shyness and approaches people fearlessly;
and this, says Mr. Lloyd, in his amusing volume on the "Game Birds
of Sweden and Norway," "has occasionally given rise in Sweden to the
notion that it is actually 'possessed.'" "About this time last year,"
Lieutenant Jack relates, "whilst the cottager Anders Pehrsson, of
Bengtsbo, in the province of Westmarland, was collecting brushwood in
the forest, a Capercali cock, without showing the smallest apprehension,
came and alighted on the ground immediately near him. The old belief
in _Troll-Foglar_, or enchanted birds, once so common, and which is
still retained by a portion of the peasantry, could not but have its
effect on the man from such clear and conclusive evidence. With this
crotchet in his head, he therefore hastened to the _Klockare_, or clerk
of the parish, named Pettersson, who was also its oracle, residing at a
distance of about an English mile from the spot, and related to him what
had happened. Pettersson, who professed not to have the most distant
apprehension of the _Troll_ and their emissaries, at once put his gun
in order, and, accompanied by Pehrsson, repaired to the spot indicated,
which the Capercali had not yet quitted. The _Klockare_ advanced to within
a few paces of the bird, and pulled the trigger, but the gun 'clicked.'
It was cocked a second and a third time, though with the same result.
The flint is now hammered, and fire at length produced, though confined
to a flash in the pan. The ardour of the sportsman rose to its highest
pitch. How provoking! neither pricker nor other instrument to clear the
touch-hole. These had been forgotten in the hurry of departure from home.
As a substitute a pointed piece of wood is had recourse to; but it breaks
short off in the touch-hole, and only makes matters worse. All this
while the Capercali remains motionless, a quiet spectator of the enemy's
proceedings. The _Klockare_, on his part, gazes at the bird, and that
with a feeling somewhat akin to awe. He is on the point of sharing his
comrade's belief in _förtrollning_, or enchantment. Once more, however,
he musters up courage, and, renewing his endeavours, finally succeeds
in clearing the touch-hole; fresh priming is then put in the pan, but
when all is in readiness, and he is prepared to discharge his piece, the
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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