PINNATED GEOUSE. f;37 



Mr. Webber gives the following interesting account of some of the habits of this 



o 



species :- 



" The most extraordinary phenomenon produced by the necessities of the climate, and 

 as a protection against the terrible winds which sweep over that apparently illimitable 

 beach at the approach of winter, consists in the assembling of these birds, from a distance 

 of many miles around, to roost upon the same spot, something after the manner of the 

 wild pigeon. This fact seems also to have escaped M. Audubon's notice. 



At the opening of winter a spot is selected on the open prairies, in the upper part of 

 the Missouri country, which is more sheltered than the surrounding regions, by the 

 character of the ground, from the biting force of the north-east winds. Here the prairie- 

 Iiens begin to assemble early in the evening ; and by the time dusk comes, an immense 

 number are collected. They approach the scene in small flocks, in a leisurely manner, by 

 short flights. They approach the place of gathering silently, with nothing of that whirr 

 of wings for which they are noted when they are suddenly put up, but they make ample 

 amends when they arrive ; as in the pigeon-roost, there is a continued roar, caused by the 

 restless shifting of the bu'ds and sounds of impatient struggle emitted by them, which can 

 be heard cUstinctly for several miles. The numbers collected are incalculably immense, 

 since the space covered sometimes extends for over a mile in length with a breadth 

 determined by the character of the ground. 



This is a most astonishing scene when approached in the early part of the night on 

 horseback ; the hubbub is strangely discordant and overwhelmingly deafening, They will 

 permit themselves to be killed in great numbers, with sticks or any convenient weapon, 

 without the necessity of using guns. They, however, when frequently disturbed in the 

 first of the season, will easily change their roosting-place ; and when the heavy snows 

 have fallen, by melting which by the heat of their bodies, and by trampling it down, they 

 have formed a sort of sheltered yard, the outside walls of which defend them against the 

 winds, they are not easily driven away by any degree of persecution. Indeed, at this 

 time they become so emaciated as to afford but little inducement to any human persecutors, 

 by whom they are seldom troubled, indeed, on account of the remoteness of these locations ; 

 from foxes, wolves, hawks, and owls, &c., their natural enemies, they have, of course, to 

 expect no mercy at any time. 



The noise of their restless duckings, flutterings, and shiftings, begins to subside a few 

 hours after dark. The birds have now arranged themselves for the night, nestled as close 

 as they can be wedged, every bird with his breast turned to the quarter in which the 

 wind may be prevailing. This scene is one of the most curious that can be imagined, 

 especially when they have the moonlight on the snow to contrast with their dark backs. 

 At this time they may be killed by cartloads, as only those in the immediate neighbour- 

 hood of the aggressors are disturbed apparently. They rise to the height of a few feet 

 with a stupified and aimless fluttering, and plunge into the snow within a short distance, 

 where they are easily taken by the hand. In these helpless conditions such immense 

 numbers are destroyed, that the family would be in danger of rapid extermination but 

 that the fecundity of the survivors nearly keeps pace with the many fatalities to which 

 they are liable. 



These birds are distributed over an immense northern territory ; and though they are 

 every^vhere in the more sheltered regions found to exhibit the propensity to collect in 

 numbers greater or smaller, during the extreme cold weather, in low spots where they will 

 have some shelter from the accidental peculiarities of the locality, yet nowhere else except 

 just upon these wide plains are they to be found in such astonishing congregations as we 

 have here described. The universal habit of all this family of Gallinacefe is rather to 

 lun and roost in little squads or flocks. "Wlience this difference in the habits of the same 

 bird, who knows ? All ! whence the difference ? That is the question." 



The nest of the Pinnated Grouse is a rude structure of grasses and leaves, and placed 

 under the shadow of a bush or a tuft of thick grass. The eggs are brownish white, and 

 about fifteen in number. 



