506 



A HISTORY OF 



midst of piny forests, the grouse is found in 

 great numbers in the neighbourhood of corn- 

 fields, where there is heath to afford retreat 

 and shelter. Their food too somewhat differs ; 

 while the smaller kind lives upon heath blos- 

 soms, cranberries, and corn, the larger feeds 

 upon the cones of the pine-tree; and will 

 sometimes entirely strip one tree, before it 

 offers to touch those of another, though just 

 beside him. In other respects, the manners 

 of these birds are the same ; being both 

 equally simple in their diet, and licentious in 

 their amours. 



The cock of the wood, for it is from him 

 we will take our description, is, as was said, 

 chiefly fond of a mountainous and woody 

 situation. In winter he resides in the darkest 

 and inmost part of the woods ; in summer he 

 ventures down from his retreats, to make 

 short depredations on the farmers' corn. The 

 delicacy of his flesh in some measure sets a 

 high price upon his head ; and as he is 

 greatly sought after, so he continues, when 

 he comes down from the hills, always on his 

 guard. Upon these occasions, he is seldom 

 surprised; and those who would take him, must 

 venture up to find him in his native retreats, i 



The cock of the wood, when in the forests, 

 attaches himself principally to the oak and 

 the pine-tree ; the cones of the latter serving 

 for his food, and the thick boughs for a habi- 

 tation. He even makes a choice of what 

 cones he shall feed upon ; for he sometimes 

 will strip one tree bare before he will deign 

 to touch the cones of another. He feeds also 

 upon ants' eggs, which seem a high delicacy 

 to all birds of the poultry kind: cranberries 

 are likewise often found in his crop ; and his 

 gizzard, like that of domestic fowls, contains 

 a quantity of gravel, for the purposes of as- 

 sisting his powers of digestion. 



At the earliest return of spring, this bird 

 begins to feel the genial influence of the sea- 

 son. During the month of March, the ap- 

 proaches of courtship are continued, and do 

 not desist till the trees have all their leaves, 

 and the forest is in full bloom. During this 

 whole season, the cock of the wood is seen 

 at sunrise and setting, extremely active, upon 

 one of the largest branches of the pine-tree. 

 With his tail raised and expanded like a fan, 

 and the wings drooping, he is seen walking 



backward and forward, his neck stretched 

 out, his head swollen and red, and making a 

 thousand ridiculous postures: his cry upon 

 that occasion is a kind of loud explosion, 

 which is instantly followed by a noise like 

 the whetting of a scythe, which ceases and 

 commences alternately for about an hour, 

 and is then terminated by the same explosion. 



During the time this singular cry continues, 

 the bird seems entirely deaf and insensible of 

 every danger ; whatever noise may be made 

 near him, or even though fired at, he still con- 

 tinues his call; and this is the time that sports- 

 men generally take to shoot him. Upon all 

 other occasions, he is the most timorous and 

 watchful bird in nature ; but now he seems 

 entirely absorbed by his instincts; and sel- 

 dom leaves the place where he first begins to 

 feel the accesses of desire. This extraordi- 

 nary cry, which is accompanied by a clapping 

 of the wings, is no sooner finished, than the 

 female, hearing it, replies, approaches, and 

 places herself under the tree, from whence 

 the cock descends to impregnate her. The 

 number of females that, on this occasion, re- 

 sort to his call, is uncertain; but one male 

 generally suffices for all. 



The female is much less than her mate, 

 and entirely unlike him in plumnge, so that 

 she might be mistaken for a bird of another 

 species: she seldom lays more than six or 

 seven eggs, which are white, and marked 

 with yellow, of the size of a common hen's 

 egg; she generally lays them in a dry place, 

 and a mossy ground, and hatches them without 

 the company of the cock. When sheisobliged, 

 during the time of incubation, to leave her 

 eggs in quest of food, she covers them up so 

 artfully, with moss or dry leaves, that it is ex- 

 tremely difficult to discover them. On this 

 occasion, she is extremely tame and tranquil, 

 however wild and timorous in ordinary. She 

 often keeps to her nest, though strangers at- 

 tempt to drag tier away. 



As soon as the young ones are hatched, 

 they are seen running with extreme agility 

 after the mother, though sometimes they are 

 not entirely disengaged from the shell. The 

 hen leads them forward, for the first time, into 

 the woods, shows them ants' eggs, and the 

 wild mountain-berries, which, while young, 

 are their only food. As they grow older, 



