CLASS II. AVES: ORDER 5. RASORES. 



237 



BUFFED GROUSE. 



The Ruffed Grouse — Partridne of the Eastern States, and Pheasant of the Southern States — 

 T. umhellus — the Partridge Pheasant of Audubon — Bvnasa umbcllus of Linnaeus and others — 

 is eighteen inches long; mottled with reddish and dusky brown; a crest of two tufts of 

 feathers on the head ; on each side of the neck a tuft of black feathers, concealing a naked 

 space, these being occasionally raised, forming a distinct ruff. The female resembles the male, 

 but the colors are paler, and the crest and ruff smaller. The food consists of whortleberries, 

 blackberries, partridge-berries, seeds, chestnuts, grapes, ants, «fcc. ; in winter they eat the buds of 

 trees, and among them, those of the laurel. As the flesh is sometimes poisonous, it has been 

 attributed to tbe effects of this food. These birds pair in April, and build their nest in May ; this 

 is of dry leaves and grass, placed in some sheltered situation ; the eggs from nine to fifteen ; the 

 young leave the nest as soon as hatched, and follow the mother; if any person approaches them, 

 they skulk in the briers and grass, and the old bird flutters and flounders as if her wing were 

 broken, and induces the stranger to follow her. When she has drawn him to a safe distance, she 

 takes wing, and leaves him in the lurch. Wilson relates an instance in which he surprised a hen 

 partridge with only a single young one ; to save this from capture, she seized it in her bill and 

 flew off with it. 



This fine bird is extensively distributed over the United States, and as far north as Hudson's 

 Bay, being more abundant in high and mountainous countries, where it chooses its haunts on the 

 declivities bordered by streams and covered with pine, hemlock, balsam, or other thick woods. 

 Their flesh is greatly esteemed, and hence they are constantly pursued by trappers and gunners; 

 though their numbers are reduced, still the markets of the cities are well supplied with them in 

 winter. They are shy, and keep themselves concealed in the thick forest till a person approaches, 

 when they suddenly burst away with a loud, whirring sound. Wilson says : "Their manners are 

 solitary, and they are seldom found in coveys of more than four or five together, and more usu- 

 ally 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 liorses. In 



