TKTUAUNID.K — TllK GUOUSR 445 



In severe wtiutlior these liirds liave lieeii kunwii tn roost in trees, but tliey 

 generally prefer to rest on the ^^roiind. Advuiitiige is someliiues taken to se- 

 ciiro them by visiting their resting-iilaees in the night witli nets. Un tiie 

 ground they walk somewhat in the manner of the eomnioii Hen, Ijut in 11 

 more erect attitude. Wiien surprised, they ri.se with a whirring .sound ; but 

 if th' y pere((ive the approaeii of any one at a sullituent distanee, they run 

 olf with consideraltle speed, and iiide by sipiatting in the grass or among 

 busiies. They are fond of du.sting themselves in ploughed tields or in du.sty 

 roads, rearranging their feathers in tiie maimer of tiie Wihl Turkey. 



When the female, with her young l)rood, is surpri.sed, she in.stantly 

 rallies up her feathers, and acts as if she contemplateil Hying in your face ; 

 this she rarely, if ever, attempts, but resorts to various artitiees to decoy the 

 intruder away. 



Their flight is said to l)e strong, regular, and swift, and may be protracted 

 to the distanee of several miles. It is less rapid than that of the niiihcl/i(x, 

 and the whirring, as they rise from tiie ground, less conspicuous. As they 

 rise, they utter four or live very distinct clucks, l)ut at times tly in silence. 



Their Hesh is dark, and the Havor is very distinctly gamy, and is generally 

 regarded as e.Kcellent. 



In the love-season the males inllate the two remarkai)le air-bladders, 

 which, in color and shajie, resendile small oranges, lower their iieads to the 

 ground, oi)en their liills, ami give utterance to very singular iuid distinctly 

 separated notes, by means of the air contained in these receptacles, rolling 

 somewhat in the manner of tlie beatings of a mullled drum. The air-reser- 

 voirs are alternately filled and emptied as they make these sounds. Their 

 notes may be heard to the distance of nearly a mile. When these skins arc 

 punctured, they are no longer resonant. 



The late Mr. DavidEckby, of Uoston, furnished :\Ir. Audubon with a full 

 ttccount of their habits, as observed by him in Martha's Vineyard, and also 

 on the island of Xashaweiia, where they were then kejit in a preserve. They 

 were observed never to settle down where the woods were thick or the bushes 

 tangled, but invariably in the open spaces ; and as they never start u]) from the 

 thick foliage, but always seek todisengage themselves from all embarrassment 

 in their flight by reaching the nearest open .space, they offer to the sportsman 

 a very fair mark. 'J'he sound they utter in rising, when hard pressed, is said to 

 resemble the syllables coo-tvo-roo. They were ob.served to feed on the berries of 

 the barberry, which abound on those islands, boxberries, cranberries, the buds 

 of roses, pines, and alders, and on the nuts of the post-oaks, and in the sum- 

 mer upon the more esculent l)erries. At the West they freciuently feed on 

 the seeds of the sumach. They are also vmy destructive to the buds of the 

 a])ple, and are very fond of the fruit of the fox-grape and the leaves and 

 berries of the mistletoe. During the planting-season their visits to the wheat 

 and corn fields are often ]iroductive of great damage. 



Three eggs in my collection, taken from a nest near Osage Village, in In- 



