92 AVIFAUNA COLUMBIANA. 



ourselves of the propriety of retaining it among actual inhabitants of 

 the District. 



In a note addressed to us, Mr. William Palmer states: " Mr. Howard 

 Abbott shot two Wild Turkeys in the winter of 1881-'82, near Falls 

 Church, Va. Mr. Hardin, of Georgetown, told me that he had shot two 

 the same winter between Georgetown and Tennallytown. I have also 

 known of several others secured within sight of the city, and have my- 

 self found feathers when hunting in this vicinity." 



Mr. George Shoemaker, of the Smithsonian, says in substance in a 

 communication dated September 23, 1882 : "A letter received from my 

 fiiend Mr. Henry C. Wood, of Georgetown, gives some reliable informa- 

 tion respecting Wild Turkeys in and near the District. He says he has 

 seen them within the past six or seven years on the Virginia hills 

 between the 'Dam' and 'Dead Bun,' has frequently tracked them in 

 the snow within these limits, and that their occurrence in the vicinity 

 of Dead Bun is known to every hunter who frequents that picturesque 

 locality. Mr. Albert Thompson, a friend of Mr. Wood's and a skillful 

 sportsman, appended to Mr. Wood's letter his corroboration of the state- 

 ment that Wild Turkeys are to be found in the vicinity of Dead Eun, 

 where he has himself frequently seen them during the past few years. 

 The ' Dam' referred to is the one just beyond High Island, certainly not 

 more than half a mile above the District line. The whole range of hills 

 on the Virginia side of the river, from Chain Bridge to and beyond 

 Great Falls, is thickly wooded, and in places so extremely wild and 

 rugged that I have seldom gone far above the Dam without seeing 

 some Buffed Grouse or hearing their 'drumming.' Mr. William C. 

 Hazel, of Georgetown, is in the habit of pasturing his horses at a friend's 

 farm on the Georgetown and Leesburg turnpike road, nine miles beyond 

 Chain Bridge. He informs me that he has shot a number of Wild Tur- 

 keys in the woods between this farm and the river, where they could 

 almost certainly be found at any season." [554] 



Family TETBAONID^E: Grouse. 

 169. (155.) Bonasa umbella. (Linn.) Steph. Buffed Grouse; "Pheasant." 

 Besident all the year round, but not common. They are always in 



Fig. 75.— Head of Huffed Grouse. 



the market in season, but mostly come from beyond the limits of the 

 District, [505] 



