TETRAONID.E— THE GROUSE. 451 



The flight of tliis Grouse is low, straightforward, and rarely protracted 

 more tliau a few hundred yards at a time. It is somewhat stiff, and per- 

 formed with frequent, almost continual, beatings of its wings. When it is 

 flushed from its nest, or is suddenly startled from the ground by a dog, it 

 rises with a loud whirring sound, whicli noise, however, is not made when 

 tlic bii'd rises of its own accord. Its movements on the ground are very 

 stately and graceful, except when it is approached too near, wlieu it runs in 

 a rapid manner, lowers its head, and spreads its tail, and either seelvs siielter 

 or takes to flight. When it hides in tiie bushes, it usually squats and 

 remains close. They are difficult birds to shoot on the wing, the more so that 

 they malve sudden and unexpected changes in the direction of their flight. 

 When they light on a tree, they are more readily followed and shot. The 

 prevalent notion that, where several of these birds are in tlie same tree, 

 several may be procured if you are careful to shoot the lowest one each 

 time, was not verified by Mr. Audubon's experience. 



The love-season of the Partridge commences early in Marcli, and is 

 indicated by the drumming of male birds. This sound is produced by the 

 male bird only, who, standing on a fallen log or on an elevated rock in the 

 most retired portion of the woods, lowers his wings, expands his tail, con- 

 tracts his neck, and seems to inflate his whole Ijody. The tufts of feathers 

 on either side of the neck are elevated, and the bird struts and wlieels 

 about in the most pompous manner possible to imagine. After manceu- 

 vring in this manner ibr some time, he begins to strike the sides of his own 

 body with his stiftened wings with short and rapid strokes. These become 

 more and more rapid, until the noise they produce seems continuous. These 

 sounds may l)e heard at all hours of the day, but more generally early in 

 the morning. The sound thus produced has generally been compared to 

 that produced by beating together two distended bladders. But this gives 

 one a very inadequate idea of the rolling, reverberating, ventriloquistic 

 noise which these binls thus occasion. It is more like the distant and 

 closing reverberations caused by remote thunder, and seems to the listener 

 rnucli nearer than it really is. It may be imitated in several ways, so as 

 even to deceive the bird, and to bring him, in a fatal impulse of jealousy, to 

 the shot of tlie sportsman. 



In the spring these birds feed on the buds of several kinds of trees, 

 especially the birches. In Maine they are particularly fond of the buds of 

 the black birch, which gives to their flesh a peculiar and very agreeable 

 flavor, and from this in certain localities they are known as the Birch 

 Partridge. They also feed largely on the esculent berries of the summer, 

 as raspberries, blueberries, and huckleberries, and in tlie fall become plump 

 and fat, and are esteemed a great delicacy. 



^Ir. Audubon states tliat, as this bird rises trom the ground, it utters a 

 caclding note, which it repeats six or seven times, and then emits a lisping 

 whistle, like the cry of some young bird, wliich is rather remarkable. When 



