BONAMA. 





some rears ago at IS) oanU the pair. NutUll says, when be wroU-, 

 that tan ware greatly thinned throughout the more populous part* 

 of the Union, and that they sold in Philadelphia and New York at 

 from 75 cents to a dollar n piece. 



The food of the Ruffed Orouae consists commonly in the spring and 

 fall, according to the author lart quoted, of the buds of trees, the 

 "*tjrin* of the haxel and alder, even fern-buds, acorns, and seeds of 

 various kind*, among which he detected the capsule*, including the 

 seeds, of the common small Canadian Cistus (/fflianlktamm). At 

 time* he hu aeen the crop almost entirely filled with the buds of 

 the apple-tree, each connected with a portion of the twig, the wood 

 of which appears to remain a good while undigested ; cinquefoil and 

 strawberry leave*, buds of the Azaleas and of the broad-leaved 

 Kalmia, with the fkrourit* Partridge-Berries (GauUheria procumbent), 

 Ivy-Berrie* (Cimakederacea), and gravel pebbles, are also some of the 

 many articles which form the winter fare of the bird. In summer 

 they seem often to prefer berries of various kinds, particularly dew- 

 berries, strawberries, grapes, and whortleberries. 



We will now lay before the reader the modes of capturing the bird. 

 The following is Wilson's account : 



" The pheasant generally springs within a few yards, with a loud 

 whirring noise, and Hies with great vigour through the woods beyond 

 reach of view, before it alight*. With a good dog however they are 

 easily found ; and at some times exhibit a singular degree of infatua- 

 tion, by looking down from the branches where they sit on the dog 

 below, who, the more noise he keeps up, seems the more to confuse 

 and stupify them, no that they may be shot down one by one till the 

 whole are killed, without attempting to fly off. In such cases those 

 on the lower limbs must be taken first, for should the upper ones be 

 first killed, in their fall they alarm those below, who immediately fly 

 off. In deep snows they are usually taken in traps, commonly dead 

 traps, supported by a figure 4 trigger. At this season when suddenly 

 alarmed, they frequently dive into the snow, particularly when it is 

 newly fallen, and coming out at a considerable distance, again take 

 wing. They are pretty hard to kill, and will often carry off a large 

 load to the distance of two hundred yards and drop down dead. 

 Sometimes in the depth of winter they approach the farm-house and 

 lurk near the barn, or about the garden. They have also been often 

 taken young and tamed, so as to associate with fowls ; and their eggs 

 have frequently been hatched under the common hen ; but these 

 rarely survive until full grown. They are exceedingly fond of the 

 seeds of grapes ; occasionally eat ants, chestnuts, blackberries, and 

 various vegetables. Formerly they were numerous in the immediate 

 vicinity of Philadelphia ; but as the woods were cleared and popu- 

 lation increased they retreated to the interior. At present (1812) 

 there are very few to be found within several miles of the city, and 

 those only singly, in the most solitary and retired woody recesses." 



Audubon denies that they are ever so easily shot as stated above. 



The pairing time of these birds is marked by a curious and sonorous 

 act on the part of the male. Most of the grouse family gesticulate con- 

 siderably at thin period, and some produce very peculiar vocal noises ; 

 but the Ruffed Grouse makes the woods echo with the vibrations of his 

 wings. The following ia Audubon's account of this fact : 



"Early in April the ruffed grouse begins to drum immediately 

 after dawn, and again towards the close of the day. As the season 

 advances, the drumming is repeated more frequently at all hours of 

 the day ; and where these birds are abundant this curious sound is 

 heard from all parts of the woods in which they reside. The drum- 

 ming is performed in the following manner : The male bird, standing 

 erect on a prostrate decayed trunk, raises the feathers of its body in 

 the manner of a turkey-cock, draws its head towards its tail, erecting 

 the feathers of the latter at the same time, and raising its ruff around 

 the neck, suffers its wings to droop, and struts about on the log. A 

 few moments elapse, when the bird draws the whole of its feathers 

 close to its body, and stretching itself out, beats its sides with its 

 wings, in the manner of the domestic cock, but more loudly, and with 

 such rapidity of motion after a few of the first strokes, as to cause a 

 tremor in the air not unlike the rumbling of distant thunder. In 

 perfectly calm weather it may be heard at the distance of two hundred 

 yards, but might be supposed to proceed from a much greater distance. 

 The female, which never drums, flies directly to the place where the 

 male is thus engaged, and on approaching him, opens her wings before 

 him, balances her body to the right and left, and then receives his 

 caresses. ... I have shut many a fine cock by imitating the 

 sound of its own wings striking against the body, which I did by 

 beating a largo Inflated bullock's bladder with a stick, keeping up as 

 much as possible the same time as that in which the bird beats. At 

 the sound produced by the bladder and the stick, the male grouse, 

 inflamed with jealousy, has flown directly towards me, when being 

 prepared I have easily shot it." 



The pairing time in April is succeeded by the niilification in the 

 early part of May. The root of a bush, the ride of a fallen log, or 

 some other sheltered nook in the thickest part of the woods, is 

 selected by the hen, and there she forms a rude nent of withered 

 leaves and grass on the ground. The eggs, fn.in nine ( fifteen in 

 number, are of a uniform dull yellowish colour, or brownish-white, 

 and are nearly as large as those of a pullet. AM soon an the young 

 are out of the shell they begin to run about, and are conducted by 



-.her, clucking as she goes, very much like < 



Like her too at night and in bad weather she covers dor young 

 ones beneath her wings, and in a week or ten days they begin to try 

 their powers of flight Her manoeuvres to decoy the intruder from 

 the spot where her young are concealed, by counterfeiting lameness 

 and by mimicry of distress, are well known. 



The Ruffed Qrouse is surrounded by enemies. In addition to the 

 common persecutor, man, the dill'nvt Bpecies of hawks are on the 

 watch for these birds, and particularly the red-tailed hawk an<l the 

 Stanley hawk, according to Aii<lulni. The former of these hawks, 

 silently perched on the tops of trees, seizes his opportunity and dashes 

 irresistibly down upon them ; the latter gliding rapidly through the 

 woods pounces upon them before they are aware of their danger. 

 Among the quadrupeds, pole-cats, weasels, racoons, opossums, and 

 foxes, are said by the same author to be destructive foes to them. 



The following is Sir John Richardson's description of a male killed 

 on the 4th of May, on the Saskatchewan plains : 



" Back, rump, and upper tail-coverts chestnut-brown, mottled and 

 finely undulated with blackish-brown ; the broad tip and a cordiform 

 central mark on each feather pale-gray. Back of the neck, scapulars, 

 and wing-coverts having the same colours ; but the gray tip* very 

 narrow, the blackish-brown in large blotches, and instead of central 

 marks, stripes along the shafts of orange-brown and brownish-white. 

 Top and sides of the head, the tertiarics, and outer edges of the 

 secondaries, mottled with the same. Eye stripe from the nostrils 

 whitish. Shoulder-tufts velvet-black, glossed with dark-green. 

 Quills liver-brown, the outer webs barred near the base and mottled 

 towards the tips with cream-yellow. Tail gray, finely undulated, and 

 also crossed by about nine narrow bars and a broad siibUTiiiin.il one 

 of blackish-brown. Throat and breast yellowish-brown, belly and 

 vent brownish-white ; are remotely barred, but most broadly on the 

 sides of the belly, with blackish-brown, which also forms a band 

 across the upper part of the breast between the nifl's. Inner wing- 

 coverts and axilluries clovu-brown, barred and tipped with white. 

 Bills and nails dark horn-colour. A male killed at the same time with 

 the preceding, and of equal dimensions, shows more of the chestnut 

 or orange-brown in its plumage, and the ground colour of its tail is 

 yellowish-brown, the extreme tips and a bar next the broad subter- 

 iniual dark one being gray. Females have less of the blackish-brown 

 colour ; the shoulder-tufts are orange-brown instead of black ; and 

 the subterminal bar on the tail is chestnut-coloured. In young birds 

 orange-brown is the prevailing tint of colour. They have a short 

 crest on the top of the head : a. fringed comb over the eye in 



Huffed Group* (Donatia CmMliu}, male. 



tin- male. Shoulder tufts consisting of about fifteen fa 



.. Fourth (pull the. ! .n,- the third an. I 



fifth. Tail fan-eli 'hers, the < more 



