Popular Btcttomu'ji nf 



$2atur*. 285 | 



neck, back, and rump ; the rest of the body 

 being dull black. The bill is dark ; the eyes 

 deep blue ; below each eye is a spot of dirty 

 white, and eyebrows formed of a naked space 

 of bright scarlet. The lesser wing-coverts 

 are dusky brown ; the greater white, which 

 extends to the ridge of the wing, forming a 

 spot of that colour on the shoulder when the 

 wing is closed; the quills are brown, the 

 lower parts and tips of the secondaries white, 

 forming a bar of white across the wing : the 

 tail is black, changing to deep violet, and 

 when spread out, the feathers form a curve 

 on each side ; the under tail-coverts arc pure 

 white : the legs and thighs dark brown, 

 mottled with white ; the feet brown. Like 

 the former species, these birds are common 

 in Russia, Siberia, and other northern coun- 

 tries, chiefly in wooded and mountainous 

 situations ; and in the northern parts of our 

 own island on uncultivated moors. The 

 female is about one third less than the male ; 

 her tail is much less forked, and she differs 

 from him considerably in colour ; the head, 

 neck, and breast being striped transversely 

 with red and black ; the back, wing-coverts, 

 and rump deep red, varied with black lines ; 

 and the tail feathers black, with oblique 

 zigzag red stripes, and tipped with white. 

 The males are polygamous, and fight despe- 

 rately with each other for the females, It 

 is said that when the vanquished are put to 

 flight, and the victors are left in possession 

 of the field, they place themselves on an 

 eminence, clap their wings, and with loud 

 cries give notice to their females, who im- 

 mediately resort to the spot. The hen makes 

 an artless nest on the heathy ground, and 

 usually lays from six to ten eggs, of a dirty 

 white colour, blotched with spots of rusty 

 brown. The young follow the hen for some 

 time, but quit her at the commencement of 

 the winter, and keep together in flocks of 

 seven or eight till the spring. Their food 

 consists principally of fruits and berries, and 

 in winter, of the tops of the heath and birch ; 

 but, though they are particularly fond of 

 wild and mountainous places, in summer 

 they frequently come down from their lofty 

 situations for the sake of feeding on corn. 



The RUFFED GROUSE (Bonasia umbellus') 

 is thus described in Wilson's American Orni- 

 thology : " This elegant species is well 

 known in almost every quarter of the United 

 States, and appears to inhabit a very exten- 

 sive range of country. It is common at Moose 

 Fort, on Hudson's Bay, in lat. 51 ; is fre- 

 quent in the upper parts of Georgia ; very 

 abundant in Kentucky and the Indiana ter- 

 ritory ; and was found by Captains Lewis 

 and Clarke in crossing the great range of 

 mountains that divide the waters of the 

 Columbia and Missouri, more than three 

 thousand miles, by their measurement, from 

 the mouth of the latter. Its favourite places 

 of resort are high mountains, covered with 

 the balsam pine, hemlock, and such like 

 evergreens. Unlike the pinnated grouse, it 

 always prefers the woods ; is seldom or never 

 found in open plains; but loves the pine 

 sheltered declivities of mountains near 

 streams of water. This great difference of 



disposition in two species, whose food seems 

 to be nearly the same, is very extraordinary, j 

 In those open plains called the Barrens of ! 

 Kentucky, the pinnated grouse was seen in 

 great numbers, but none of the ruffed ; while | 

 in the high groves with which that singular \ 



nOFFZD GROUSE. (BCNA8IA DMBKLLOS.) i 



tract of country is interspersed, the latter, ; 

 or pheasant, was frequently met with ; but j 

 not a single individual of the former. 



The native haunts of the pheasant being a \ 

 cold, high, mountainous and woody country, ! 

 it is natural to expect that, as we descend j 

 from thence to the sea shores, and the low, | 

 flat, and warm climate of the Southern 

 States, these birds should become more rare ; 

 and such indeed is the case. In the lower 

 parts of Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, they 

 are very seldom observed: but, as we 

 advance inland to the mountains, they 

 again make their appearance. In the lower 

 parts of New Jersey, we indeed occasionally 

 meet with them ; but this is owing to the 

 more northerly situation of the country ; for 

 even here they are far less numerous than 

 among the mountains. 



"Dr. Turton, and several other English 

 writers, have spoken of a long-tailed grouse, 

 said to inhabit the back parts of Virginia, 

 which can be no other than the present spe- 

 cies, there being, as far as I am acquainted, 

 only these two, the ruffed and pinnated 

 grouse, found native within the United 

 States. 



" The manners of the pheasant are soli- 

 tary ; they are seldom found in coveys of 

 more than four or five together, and more 

 usually in pairs, or singly. They leave 

 their sequestered haunts in the woods early 

 in the morning, and seek the path or road, 

 to pick up gravel, and glean among the 

 droppings of the horses. In travelling among 

 the mountains that bound the Susquehanna, 

 I was always able to furnish myself with an 

 abundant supply of these birds every morn- 

 ing without leaving the path. If the wea- 

 ther be foggy, or lowering, they are sure to 

 be seen in such situations. They generally 

 move along with great stateliness. The 

 drumming, as it is usually called, of the 

 pheasant, is another singularity of this spe- 

 cies. This is performed by the male alone. 

 In walking through solitary woods, fre- 

 quented by these birds, a stranger is sur- 

 prised by suddenly hearing a kind of thump- 

 ing very similar to that produced by striking 



