Rock Par- 
tridges, 
A JOURNEY TO THE 
dy; but their Summer drefs is feldom complete 
‘till July. The feathers of thofe birds make excel- 
lent beds, and as they are the perquifite of the 
hunters, are ufually fold to the Captains and 
Mates of the Companys’ fhips, at the eafy rate of 
three pence per pound. 
Rock Partripnces. This fpecies of Groufe 
are in Winter of the fame colour as the former, 
but inferior in fize; being in general not more 
than two-thirds of the weight. They have a 
black line from the bill to the eye, and differ in 
nature and manner from the Willow Partridge. 
They never frequent the woods or willows, but 
brave the fevereft cold on the open plains. They 
always feed on the buds and tops of the dwarf 
birch, and after this repaft, generally fit on the 
high ridges of fnow, with their heads to wind- 
ward, ‘They are never caught in nets, like the 
Willow Partridge; for when in want of gravel, 
their bills are of fuch an amazing ftrength, that 
they pick a fufficient quantity out of the rocks. 
Befide, being fo much inferior in fize to the for- 
mer fpecies, their flefh is by no means fo good, 
being black, hard, and bitter. They are in gene- 
ral, 
but this is fo far from being’a general rule, that an experienced Hudfonian 
muft fmile at the idea. That Mr, Dragge never faw an inftance of this 
kind I will not fay, but when Nature deviates fo far from its ufual courfe, 
it. is undoubtedly owing to fome accident; and nothing is more likely 
than that the feathers of the bird Mr. Dragge had examined, had been 
ftruck off by ahaw; and as the nfual feafon for changing their plumage 
was near, the Summer feathers fupplied their place; for out of the many 
“hundreds of thoufands that I have feen killed, | never faw or heard of a 
fimilar inftance, 
