G A L L I N I D /E. 



605 



by a similar explosive noise as at the beginning. He 

 is apparently so deaf and insensible, during this sin- 

 gular exhibition, that, though at other times very 

 wild and vigilant, the sportsman may gradually ap- 

 proach him, and take a fatal aim. This ardour of 

 temperament continues till June. The female de- 

 posits in an artless situation in her nest on the ground, 

 and among moss, from eight to sixteen eggs, which 

 are about the size of those of the common hen, but 

 move obtuse at the ends, and yellowish white, sprink- 

 led \viih yellow spots irregularly. When she quits 

 her nest in search of food, she covers the eggs over 

 with leaves or moss. The young, immediately on 

 their exclusion, follow her with great agility, and she 

 leads them to procure wild berries, and the pupae of 

 ants. The brood follow the mother for nearly two 

 months, at the expiration of which period the young 

 males entirely forsake her, living till the beginning of 

 spring harmoniously together, when they separate 

 and affect solitude, never approaching but in the 

 spirit of hostility, every male being jealous of an in- 

 truder, and resisting him with determined obstinacy. 

 In the provinces of Smaland and Gothland, in Swe- 

 den, a hybrid but barren offspring is produced be- 

 tween the present species and the black grouse. The 

 flesh of the former, though very dark coloured, is 

 much relished by epicures, when it has not contracted 

 too much of a bitter flavour, by copiously feeding on 

 juniper-berries ; and it is often conveyed in winter, 

 in a perfectly eatable state, from Norway to this 

 island. The eggs are accounted preferable to those 

 of every other bird, and arc very much in request. 

 But all attempts, it appears, have failed to habituate 

 the species to contincrnent in a poultry yard. 



The Cock of ll/c Plains ( T. urophasianus). This 

 aperies is mentioned, by the writers on American 

 ornithology, as approaching most nearly to the wood 

 grouse of the eastern continent. That it does so in 

 size is true ; but both its appearance and its habits are 

 different. It is not, strictly speaking, a woodland bird, 

 but rather an inhabitant of the margins of the woods ; 

 and we believe the older hunters in North America 

 used to give it the name, " The Prairie Turkey." 

 The tail is very different from that of the European, 

 which is narrow and tapering, and does not indicate 

 so frequent a habit of ascending and descending as 

 the broad-tailed bird of the east. This, like the other 

 American species formerly mentioned, is understood 

 to range to both sides of the Rocky Mountains ; and 

 as far at least as California to the south. It is men- 

 tioned as being but very indifferent as an article for 

 the table, although it is of such large size. Its food 

 appears to be the leaves and buds of various plants, 

 which are found in the wild places where the bird 

 itself has been met with. 



The male, when full grown, measures thirty inches 

 in length ; the female is considerably less. The 

 general colour of the plumage of both birds is brown- 

 ish black ; but the female has the fore neck and 

 breast streaked with greyish white ; and the feathers 

 of the neck in the male, but not in the female, are 

 produced, something like those of the hackle of the 

 common domestic cock. The pairing time of these 

 birds is in the spring ; and the late Mr. Douglas, 

 who is an excellent authority in such matters, says 

 that " small eminences on the banks of streams are 

 the places usually selected for celebrating the wed- 

 dings ; the time generally about sunrise. The wings 



of the male are lowered, and buzzling on the ground ; 

 the tail spread like a fan, somewhat erect ; the bare 

 yellow oesophagus inflated to a prodigious size, fully 

 half as large as his body ; and from its soft mem- 

 branous substance being well contrasted with the 

 scale-like feathers below it on the breast, and the 

 flexile silky feathers on the neck, which, on these 

 occasions, stand erect. In this grotesque form he 

 displays, in the presence of his intended mate, a 

 variety of pleasing attitudes. His love-song is a con- 

 fused, grating, but not offensively disagreeable tone 

 something that we can imitate, but have a difficult^ 

 in expressing, ending in a deep hollow tone, not un- 

 like the sound produced by blowing into a large 

 reed." These birds build in the plains, on a tuft on 

 the ground, or near water. The nest is carelessly 

 put together, and is constructed of twigs and dry 

 grass. The colour of the eggs is wood-brown, 

 blotched irregularly with chocolate brown at the 

 larger end ; they equal in size those of the common 

 hen, and in number they vary from thirteen to seven- 

 teen. The time of incubation is about twenty-one 

 days ; and shortly after the young are hatched they 

 quit the nest. 



These birds appear to belong chiefly, if not ex- 

 clusively, to the west side of America ; and the places 

 of their habitation are those naked plains where there 

 is no vegetation exceeding a bush of very humble 

 growth. It is impossible, therefore, that they can be 

 perching birds, as the wood grouse of Europe is, sim- 

 ply because they have nothing on which to perch. 

 Their wings are feeble and of small dimensions in 

 proportion to the size and weight of their bodies ; 

 and their progress through the air is, consequently, 

 effected rather by a fluttering motion, than by a di- 

 rect and continuous flight. They rise flutteringly at 

 first, giving a few hurried strokes with their wings ; 

 and after flying for a short distance, with a wriggling 

 course, and making much whirring sound witl their 

 wings, they again alight. 



During the summer, and greater part of autumn, 

 these birds continue in families ; but when the cold 

 weather begins to set in, the families form into packs, 

 which sometimes amount to several hundreds. Seeds 

 and small fruits are their food at this season, and they 

 get fat ; but, as already noticed, the quality of their 

 flesh is very inferior. 



Richardsmis Grouse (T. Richardsonii). This is 

 another American species of the Rocky Mountains, 

 and, like the preceding species, understood to be 

 most abundant to the westward of the summits. It is 

 a much more upland and woodland bird than the last, 

 more graceful on the wing, more active in its motions, 

 and far more valuable as an article of food. The 

 sides of the head and throat black, with pure white 

 spots ; feathers on the breast black, with pure white 

 spots ; white spots also on the flanks, and the under 

 tail-coverts white ; tail, sixteen feathers, rather long, 

 rounded. Female smaller, less black, but more rusty ; 

 general colours duller. Nest in bushes, eggs not so 

 numerous as in many of the other species. The male 

 is dull lead-colour and brown, variously blended and 

 contrasted. The female is yellowish brown and 

 black, with some white streaks. The weight is be- 

 tween two pounds and a half and three pounds. 



April is the pairing time ; and the nests are placed 

 on the copses on the hills, but not high upon the moun- 

 tains. The eggs are from a dozen to twenty, as 



