[Illustration: HAZEL GROUSE (_Bonasia sylvestris_).] Professor Nilsson has given us the following account of one of these birds which he kept in confinement:--"He is more dull than lively. For the most part he will sit for a whole day on his perch in a passive attitude, with his tail hanging down, his feathers somewhat ruffled, and his eyes closed. He is, nevertheless, wild and shy. Towards people who approach his coop he evinces more shyness than malice; but to small animals and birds that come near him, or attempt to purloin his food, he displays an exceedingly angry and spiteful temper. About March, when he puts on his beautiful summer plumage, he is more vicious than usual. Towards the end of that month, or early in April, when the fine weather sets in, he commences his _spel_ (call). In this, however, he never indulges at an early hour in the morning, but only in the daytime, both before and after noon. His moulting season commences about July, and continues for a long period. His food consists of whortle-berries, and other forest berries when obtainable, but he is also fond of apples chopped up small, cabbages, and various vegetables, as well as of barley and the seeds of the spruce pine." THE HAZEL GROUSE. The HAZEL GROUSE (_Bonasia sylvestris_), a third species, represents a group that have their tarsi only partially feathered, and their toes quite bare. These birds have the tail composed of sixteen feathers, and rounded at its extremity, while the plumage on the head is prolonged into a crest. The sexes are very similarly coloured, and of about the same size. The plumage on the mantle is spotted reddish grey and white, most of the feathers being also delicately pencilled with undulating black lines. The reddish grey upper wing is enlivened with white streaks and spots; the throat is spotted brown and white. The quills are greyish brown, dotted with reddish white on the narrow outer web, and the blackish tail-feathers dotted with grey, those in the centre being marked with reddish brown. The eye is rust-brown, the beak black, and the bare part of the foot greyish brown.