444 . NORTH AMEUIOAN UIHDS. 



altuniliiiit and tame ; but where tlioy are rare and wild tliey are seldom heard 

 al'U'r simrifsr, and tlieir nieetin<,f.s tlien are in silence. Kven in tlie fall the 

 youiiy males evince their natural jaij^nacity by enjj:a<,'inj^ in short battles, 

 which tiieir jiarents usually interrupt and jait a sti)]i to. 



This bird nests, according,' to tlie locality in which it is met with, from the 

 bejiinniiiL,' of A]ail to the la.st of May. In Kentucky, Mr. Aiulubon lias found 

 tlieir nests witii eygs early in April, but the avera^'e ))eriod there was the first 

 of May. Their nests he describes as somewhat careles , formed of dry 

 leaves and grasses, interwoven in a tolerably neat manner, and always very 

 carefidly placed among the tall grass of some large tuft in tlie ojjcn ground 

 of the i)rairies, or, in Ijarren lands, at the foot of a small bush. 



The eggs are said to be from eight to twelve in number, never more ; they 

 are larger and more spheiical than those of the common loiihil/us, and are of 

 a dark^;r shade. The female sits upon them aljout twenty days, and as soon 

 as the young can extricate themselves from the shell the mother leads them 

 away, the male having previously left her. 



Early in the fall the various broods begin again to associate together, and 

 at tliL approach of winter it is not uncommon to see them in tlocksof several 

 hundred individuals. 



The young broods, when come upon suddenly and taken by surprise, in- 

 stantly scatter and sc^uat clo.-^e to the ground, so that, without a dog, it is im- 

 possible to find them. The mother gives a single loud chuck as a signal of 

 danger, and the young birds rise on the wing and fly a few yards in different 

 directions, and then keej) themselves perfectly still and ([uiet until the mother 

 recalls them by a signal indicating that the ]ieril has ]iassed. In the mean 

 while she resorts to various devices to draw the intruder away from the 

 place. 



This Orouse raises but a single brood in a season ; and if the first Laying has 

 been destroyed or taken, the female seeks out her mate, makes another nest, 

 and produces another .set of eggs. These are usually smaller in size and less 

 in number than those of her first laying. 



The Pinnated Crouse is said to be easily tamed, and may be readily 

 donu'sticated, though I do not know that the experiment has been thoroughly 

 tried. Mr. Aiulubon once kejjt sixty of them in a garden near Henderson, 

 Ky. Within a week they became tame enough to allow him to approach 

 them without being frightened. He supplied them with abundance of corn 

 and other food. In ihe course of the winter they became so gentle as to feed 

 from the hand, and walked about his garden like so many tame fowl, mingling 

 occasionally with the poultry. In the spring they strutted, " tooted," and 

 fought as if in their wild state. Many eggs Avere deposited, and a number of 

 young birds wore hatched out ; but they proved so destructive to the vegetables 

 that tlie ex]ieriinent was given uj) and the Grouse were killed. The male birds 

 w(!re conspicuous for their courage, and would engage in contest with the Tur- 

 key-cocks, and even with the dunghill cock, rather than yield the ground. 



