430 



NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



Their notes, at times, strongly resembled those of the common Hen. He 

 never met with them in any forest, nor have they been taken near the coast 

 of California. 



This species was first obtained by Lewis and Clark's party in their expe- 



Centrocercus urophasianus. 



dition to the Eocky Mountains. It was afterwards met with by Douglas, 

 who published in the Linnsean Transactions (XVI, p. 133) an account of its 

 habits. He described its flight as slow, unsteady, and as affording but little 

 amusement to the sportsman ; being a succession of flutterings, rather than 

 anything else. They rise hurriedly, giving two or three flaps of the wing, 

 swinging from side to side in their movement, and gradually falling, making 

 a whirring sound, at the same time uttering a cry of cuck-cuck-cuck, like the 

 common Pheasant. They pair in March and April. 



At the mating-season the male is said to select some small eminence on 

 the banks of streams for the very singular performances it goes through with 

 at that period in the presence of its mate. The wings are lowered and 

 dragged on the ground, making a buzzing sound ; the tail, somewhat erect, is 



