272 PINNATED GROUSE. 



and scanty. These arc however, by no means, naked deserts. They 

 are, on the contrarj^, covered with trees, shrubs and smaller plants. 

 The trees are mostly pitch-pines of inferior size, and white oaks of a 

 small growth. They are of a quality very fit for burning. Thousands 

 of cords of both sorts of firewood are annually exported from these 

 barrens. Vast quantities are occasionally destroyed by the fires which 

 through carelessness or accident spread far and wide through the woods. 

 The city of New York will probably for ages derive fuel from the grouse- 

 grounds. The land after having been cleared, yields to the cultivator 

 poor crops. Unless therefore he can help it by manure, the best dis- 

 position is to let it grow up to forest again. Experience has proved, 

 that in a term of forty or fifty years, the new growth of timber will be 

 fit for the axe. Hence it may be perceived, that the reproduction of 

 trees, and the protection they afford to Heath-hens, would be perpetual; 

 or in other words, not circumscribed by any calculable time ; provided 

 the persecutors of the latter would be quiet. 



"Beneath these trees grow more dwarfish oaks, overspreading the 

 surface, sometimes with here and there a shrub, and sometimes a thicket. 

 These latter are from about two to ten feet in height. AYhere they are 

 the principal product, they are called in common conversation brush, as 

 the flats on which they grow are termed Brushy plains. Among this 

 hardy shrubbery may frequently be seen the creeping vegetable named 

 the partridgeberry covering the sand with its lasting verdure. In 

 many spots the plant which produces hurtleberries, sprout up among 

 the other natives of the soil. These are the more important, though I 

 ought to inform you that the hills reaching from east to west, and form- 

 ing the spine of the island, support kalmias, hickories, and many other 

 species ; that I have seen azalias and andromedas as I passed through 

 the wilderness ; and that where there is water, craneberries, alders, 

 beeches, maples, and other lovers of moisture, take tlieir stations. 



" This region, situated thus between the more thickly inhabited strips 

 or belts on the north and south sides of the island, is much travelled by 

 wagons, and intersected accordingly by a great number of paths. 



" As to the birds themselves, the information I possess scarcely 

 amounts to an entire history. You, who know the difficulty of collect- 

 ing facts, will be the most ready to excuse my deficiencies. The infor- 

 mation I give you is such as I rely on. For the purpose of gathering 

 the materials, I have repeatedly visited their haunts. I have likewise 

 conversed with several men who were brought up at the precincts of the 

 grouse-ground, who had been witnesses of their habits and manners, who 

 were accustomed to shoot them for the market, and who have acted as 

 guides to gentlemen who go there for sport. 



" Biilk. — An adult Grouse when fat weighs as much as a barn door 

 fowl of moderate size, or about three pounds avoirdupois. But the 



