Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume II.djvu/697

 BLACKCOCK BLACKFISH 677 northern parts of Europe and Great Britain, particularly in the wild and wooded districts of Scotland. The male weighs sometimes as Blackcock (Tetrao tetrix). much as four pounds, and the female about two. In the male, the length to the end of the tail is about 23 inches, and the extent of wing 33 inches ; bill an inch long, strong, and brownish black; the iris brown; over the eye a bare granulated skin of a scarlet color ; the whole upper plumage of a steel-blue color, the scapulars and wings tinged with brown ; the primaries brown, with brownish white shafts, the secondaries tipped with whitish, forming a bar across the wings, conspicuous in flight ; the under wing coverts white, a few of them being visible when the wing is closed; the breast and sides brownish black, the abdominal feathers tipped with white; the legs and thighs dark brown, with grayish white specks, the former feathered to the toes ; the lower tail coverts white, the upper brownish black; the tail, which is forked, with the lateral feathers curved outward, deep black. The female is about 18 inches long and 31 inches in extent of wings ; she resembles the other females of the family in her less brilliant markings ; the general color of the plumage is ferruginous, mottled and barred with black above, and with dusky and brown bars on a paler ground be- low ; the tail is nearly even at the end, straight, and variegated with ferruginous and black ; the white about the secondaries and bend of the wing is much as in the male. The favorite abode of the blackcock is in the highlands and glens, among the hills clothed with a luxuriant growth of birch, hazel, willow, and alder, with an undergrowth of deep fern ; here, they find abundant food and shelter from the winter's cold and summer's sun. Their food consists of tender twigs, berries, heaths, and occasionally the seeds from the stubble fields. Their flight is heavy, straight, of moderate velocity, and ca- pable of being protracted. They perch readily on trees, but the ordinary station is the ground, on which they repose at night. The black- cocks are polygamous, and fight desperately for the females during April; having driven off all rivals, the male selects some eminence early in the morning, on which he struts, trail- ing his wings, swelling out his plumage and wattles over the eyes like a turkey cock ; the females answer to his call and soon crowd around him. After the courting season the males associate together peaceably. The eggs are six to ten in number, of a dirty white color, with rusty spots, and are laid in a very rude nest on the ground, among the heaths; the young are reared entirely by the female, which they resemble in color. Their flesh is an excellent article of food. Foxes and rapa- cious birds kill great numbers of them. BLACK DEATH. See PLAGUE. BLACKFEET, or Satsika, the most westerly tribe of the Algonquin family of American Indians, with a dialect which differs greatly from others of the family. They were origi- nally on the Saskatchewan ; but from intestine dissensions the Satsika or Blackfeet proper separated from the Kena or Blood Indians, and retired to the Missouri, where the name Blackfeet was given to them by the Crows. A chief named Piegan or the Pheasant caused a second division, making three bands which continue to this day. They extend from the waters of Hudson bay to the Missouri and Yellowstone. They have always been great warriors, and, having early obtained horses, maintain their stock by robbery. They do not bury their dead. The warrior is left in his cabin in full array, and horses are killed at the door for his use. Their worship of Natous or the sun is clearly marked. Those in the United States are in Montana, and were esti- mated by the Indian bureau in 1870 at 7,500. Canadian authorities estimate those within the British lines at 6,000; but as they are con- stantly moving, a large number are reckoned by both. They have been constantly at war, carrying their predatory incursions into Ore- gon, but are now diminishing through intem- perance, and becoming less formidable. BLACKFISH, a name improperly given by sea- men to several species of small whales, espe- cially to the round-headed dolphin (globioeph- alug, Less.), (see DOLPHIN), and also in New England to a marine species of fish of the family labridce, the tauiog (tautoga Americana, De Kay). The latter abounds on the coast of New England, on both sides of Long Island, and off Sandy Hook, New Jersey. Originally they were not found north of Cape Cod ; but between 1820 and 1830 a number of them were brought alive in boats to Massachusetts Bay, and being set free have spread all along the eastern coast of the continent. Its back and sides are black ; the lips, lower jaw, and belly, in the males particularly, are white. The tail is entire, somewhat convex, the middle rays being somewhat longer than the external ones.