450 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



wings, and which may be heard to quite a distance. In the mating-season 

 the male struts about in the presence of the female, in the manner of a 

 Turkey-cock, its wings drooping, its tail erected, and its ruffs displayed. 



This Grouse is a constant resident in the district in which it occurs, and, 

 as a general rule, is in no sense migratory, though it is stated by Audubon 

 that in some regions where they are very abundant they perform partial 

 sorties at the approach of autumn. These only occur in mountainous regions 

 in which during the winter months there is an insufficiency of food. These 

 movements have been noticed on the banks of the Ohio and the Susquehanna 

 Elvers. Their journeys occur in the month of October, when they are in 

 the best condition for the table, and they are much sought after. In the 

 spring, those which have escaped return to the regions from which they 

 migrated. Mr. Audubon states that in October, 1820, he observed a large 

 number moving from the States of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois into Kentucky, 

 many of which were shot, and taken to the Cincinnati market. 



This Grouse is found wherever wooded country is to be met with, and is 

 especially fond of the craggy sides of mountains and hills, and tlie borders 

 of rivers and small streams. They also often occur in considerable num- 

 bers in low lands, and were discovered by Mr. Audubon breeding in the 

 thickest cane-brakes of Indiana and Kentucky. 



They find in these wooded regions at once the means of food and shelter. 

 In these localities they breed, and there they may usually be seen at all 

 seasons of the year. They are thus to be met with in nearly all the Southern 

 States, being abundant in the Carolinas, in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missis- 

 sippi, as far to the southwest as Natchez. They are not known to occur in 

 any part of Louisiana. Dr. Newberry did not encounter this bird within 

 the limits of California, but found them very abundant in the wooded por- 

 tions of the Cascade Mountains and in the Willamette VaUey. The Oregon 

 specimens were generally darker than the eastern varieties, but the habits 

 were apparently everywhere the same. 



In many important respects the habits of this bird appear to be essentially 

 different from those of the Pinnated Grouse. Unlike that species, it is rarely 

 met with on open plains. Though the food of the two species appears 

 to be very similar, this peculiarity and diff'erence of abode is quite striking. 

 This is more noticeable at the South than in the more northern and 

 western portions of the country, where, however, this species seems to seek, 

 and the cupido to avoid, the wooded sections. 



They differ, also, in their more solitary disposition, being never seen in 

 groups of more than four or five, and rarely other than singly or in pairs. 

 Wilson observed, while travelling among the mountains of Pennsylvania, 

 that these birds left the woods early in the morning to seek the open path 

 or road to pick up gravel or to glean among the droppings of the horses, 

 and he was thus enabled to supply himself without leaving the path. On 

 the ground they were observed to move with great stateliness, spreading out 

 their broad fan-like tails. 



