376 A JOURNEY TO THE 



colour, beautifully barred with black, chocolate, and white ; 

 and the tail is frequently expanded like a fan. To add to 

 their beauty, they have a ruff of glossy black feathers, richly 

 tinged with purple round the neck, which they can erect at 

 pleasure : this they frequently do, but more particularly so 

 when they spread their long tail, which gives them a noble 

 appearance. In size they exceed a partridge, but are inferior 

 to a pheasant. In Winter they are usually found perched on 

 the branches of the pine-trees ; and in that season are so tame 

 as to be easily approached, and of course readily shot. 



They always make their nests on the ground, generally at 

 the root of a tree, and lay to the number of twelve or fourteen 

 eggs. In some of the Southern parts of America several 

 attempts have been made to tame those beautiful birds, by 

 taking their eggs and hatching them under domestic hens, but 

 it was never crowned with success ; for when but a few days 

 old, they always make their escape into the woods, where 

 they probably pick up a subsistence. Their flesh is delicately 

 white and firm, and [408] though they are seldom fat, 

 they are always good eating, and are generally esteemed 

 best when larded and roasted, or nicely boiled with a bit 

 of bacon. 



There is something very remarkable in those birds, and I 

 believe peculiar to themselves, which is that of clapping their 

 wings with such a force, that at half a mile distance it resembles 

 thunder. I have frequently heard them make that noise near 

 Cumberland House in the month of May, but it was always 

 before Sun-rise, and a little after Sun-set. It is said by Mr. 

 Barton and Le Hontan, that they never clap in this manner 

 but in the Spring and Fall, and I must acknowledge that I 

 never heard them in Winter, though I have killed many of 

 them in that season. The Indians informed me they never 

 make that noise but when feeding, which is very probable ; 

 for it is notoriously known that all the species of Grouse 

 feed very early in the mornings, and late in the afternoons. 



