PINNATED GROUSE. 273 



eagerness of the sportsman is so great, that a large proportion of those 

 they kill, are but a few months oltl, and have not attained their complete 

 growth. Notwithstanding the protection of the law, it is very common 

 to disregard it. The retired nature of the situation favors this. It is 

 ■well understood that an arrangement can be made which will blind and 

 silence informers, and that the gun is fired with impunity, for weeks 

 before the time prescribed in the act. To prevent this unfair and 

 unlawful practice, an association was formed a few years ago, under the 

 title of the Brush club, with the express and avowed intention of 

 enforcing the game-law. Little benefit, however, has resulted from its 

 laudable exertions ; and under a conviction that it was impossible to 

 keep the poachers away, the society declined. At present the statute 

 may be considered as operating very little toward their preservation. 

 Grouse, especially full-grown ones, are becoming less frequent. Their 

 numbers are gradually diminishing ; and assailed as they are on all 

 sides, almost without cessation, their scarcity may be viewed as fore- 

 boding their eventual extermination. 



" Price. — Twenty years ago a brace of Grouse could be bought for a 

 dollar. They now cost from three to five dollars. A handsome pair 

 seldom sells in the New York market now-a-days for less than thirty 

 shillings [three dollars seventy-five cents], nor for more than forty 

 [five dollars]. These prices indicate indeed the depreciation of money, 

 and the luxury of eating. They prove at the same time, that Grouse 

 are become rare ; and this fact is admitted by every man who seeks 

 them, whether for pleasure or for profit. 



" Aviours. — The season for pairing is in March, and the breeding 

 time is continued through April and May. Then the male Grouse dis- 

 tinguishes himself by a peculiar sound. When he utters it, the parts 

 about the throat are sensibly inflated and swelled. It may be heard on 

 a still morning for three or more miles ; some say they have perceived 

 it as far as five or six. This noise is a sort of ventriloquism. It does 

 not strike the ear of a bystander with much force ; but impresses him 

 with the idea, though produced within a few rods of him, of a voice a 

 mile or two distant. This note is highly characteristic. Though very 

 peculiar, it is termed tooting, from its resemblance to the blowing of a 

 conch or horn from a remote quarter. The female makes her nest on 

 the ground, in recesses very rarely discovered by men. She usually 

 lays from ten to twelve eggs. Their color is of a brownish, much resem- 

 bling those of a Guinea-hen. When hatched, the brood is protected by 

 her alone. Surrounded by her young, the mother bird exceedingly 

 resembles a domestic hen and chickens. She frequently leads them to 

 feed in the roads crossing the woods, on the remains of maize and oats 

 contained in the dung dropped by the travelling horses. In that employ- 

 ment they are often surprised by the passengers. On such occasions 



Vol. II.— 18 



