104 BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 



ORDER GALLING. GALLINACEOUS BIRDS. 



SUBORDER PHASIANI. PHEASANTS, QUAIL, ETC. 

 FAMILY TETRAONID-ffi. GROUSE, ETC. 



THE GROUSE AND QUAIL. 



Only two species of this large and important family, containing some of the best 

 known and most highly prized game birds, are found in Pennsylvania. These, the 

 Ruffed Grouse or Pheasant, and the Quail or Partridge, are reported as natives in 

 nearly every county in the commonwealth. Fifty, sixty or more years ago the 

 Prairie Hen ( Tympanuchus americanus, Reich. ) was, it is stated, rather common in 

 certain parts of the state. Dr. Win. P. Turnbull* writing, in 1869, of the Prairie 

 Hen, says : " Now very rare. A few are still met with in Monroe and Northampton 

 counties, where I have shot the species." In recent years unsuccessful efforts have 

 been made to introduce to Pennsylvania, with a view to naturalization, the Prairie 

 Hen, the European or Migratory Quail (Coturnix coturnix, Linn.) and the Califor- 

 nia Partridge (Callipepla californica, Shaw). The Ruffed Grouse, an inhabitant 

 principally of woods and thickets, is most numerous in the mountainous and ele- 

 vated districts. The Quail, or Bob-white, prefers the open fields, meadows and 

 pastures, hence is most plentiful in the fertile and productive agricultural regions, 

 especially in the southeastern and some of the southern and western counties. 

 Both species nest commonly on the ground, and lay many buff-colored or white 

 eggs. The young, covered with a brownish and blackish down, are able to run as 

 soon as they are out of the shell, and they possess an ability to hide themselves 

 under fallen leaves or in scattered grasses and weeds, which is quite remarkable. 

 Both species, when not breeding, are found generally in small flocks of one or two 

 families. The Grouse does not appear to be migratory, but the Quail is of a migra- 

 tory disposition. The flesh of these birds is held in high esteem by epicures. Large 

 numbers of both species, particularly Grouse, are killed annually and shipped to 

 the markets. They subsist chiefly on a vegetable diet, viz., the seeds of various 

 weeds and grasses, cereals, berries, wild grapes, and other small fruits; the buds 

 and blossoms of trees and shrubs, the tender shoots of different small plants, etc., 

 and in summer they also devour numerous kinds of insects. Pheasants spend most 

 of their time on the ground, but they often alight in trees and bushes to feed, roost, 

 or to escape from enemies. Often when pursued by gunners Grouse secrete them, 

 selves in the tops of high trees, particularly hemlocks, where they frequently remain 

 so motionless as to escape the keen eye of the most experienced hunter. Some- 

 times when these wily birds fly in trees they alight on large limbs, sit lengthwise, 

 and so close to the limb as to render it difficult to detect them. At other times they 

 perch close to the body of a stately forest monarch, and stand unright feathers close 

 to the body and with neck stretched to the full extent; but even in this partly un- 

 covered attitude they are often overlooked, being frequently mistaken for knots, 

 bunches of lichens, leaves or rough bark. One is often surprised to see how very 

 small a large Grouse will appear when frightened and hiding in a tree. Old hunt- 

 ers, who have made a careful study of both Grouse and Quail, in their natural haunts, 

 claim that these birds, during the breeding season, leave no "scent" by which dogs, 

 etc., can trail them, as they do at other times. Although the Quail is a resident 

 (t. e., found in the same locality during all months of the year), it is, in some parts 

 of the state at least, more or less migratory, as is clearly shown by the fact that in 

 the fall flocks, sometimes numbering a hundred or more birds, are seen traveling, 

 usually, southward. Quails are terrestrial. Coveys huddle close together at night, 

 and roost on the ground, and often, like the Grouse, when pursued, they seek shelter 



* Birds of East Pennsylvania and New Jersey. 



