THE GROUSE. 



It lias been already shewn to what an endless variety the 

 breed of the dog may be extended, and the same remark will 

 apply, in a greater or less degree, to all animals reclaimed from a 

 state of nature and domesticated by man ; a pigeon, for instance, 

 may be bred to assume any shape or any colour ; but the case 

 is widely different with all other animals which preserve their 

 native freedom, and thus we find a grouse, a partridge, or a hare* 

 always the same, or at least the deviations are so extremely rare, 

 that they are regarded as phenomena, and are either the effect 

 of disease, or appear as a fantastic whim of nature. Yet, if we 

 are to believe Cowper, hares, when reduced to a state of familiar 

 captivity, are easily recognised by the varied aspect or counten- 

 ance, which each individually offers to minute and constant 

 observation ; but, at all events, nature when left to herself 

 eern* to proceed in one regular course, and wild animals uni- 

 formly exhibit the same general appearance, whatever nice dis- 

 tinctions may be discovered by that minute and repeated obser- 

 vation which can only be obtained by familiar acquaintance. 



The Grouse and its Affinities**" The cock of the wood, the 

 black cock, the grouse, and the ptarmigan these are all birdi 

 of a similar nature, and chiefly found in heathy mountains and 

 piny forests, at a distance from mankind. They might one* 

 indeed have been common enough all over England, when a 

 great part of the country was covered with heath ; but at pr- 

 ent their numbers are thinned. 



