450 NORTH A.MKUICAN BIRDS. 



wiiifTs, and which may he lioard to quite a distance. Tn the niatintjt-season 

 tlie male .struts about in the ])resence of tlie I'euiale, in the manntu' of a 

 Turkey-cock, its wings drooping, its tail erected, and its ruffs displayed. 



ThisGrou.se is a cinistant resident in the district in which it occurs, and, 

 as a general rule, is in no sen.se migratory, though it is stated by Audubon 

 that in some regions where they are very abundant they perforin ])artial 

 sorties at the approiich of autumn. These only occur in mcjuntainons regions 

 in which during tlie winter montlis tiiere is an insuliicieiicy of food. Tliese 

 movements have been noticed on tlie lianks of tlie Ohio and the Susiiuehanna 

 Kivers. Tiieir jouriieys occur in the month of October, when they are in 

 tlie best condition fui the table, and they are much sotigiit after. In tiie 

 spring, those which have escajted return to tlie regions from which they 

 migrated. Mr. Audubon states that in October, 1S2(), he observed a large 

 number moving from the States of Ohio, ludiaiia, and Illinois into Kentucky, 

 many of which were shot, and taken to the Cincinnati market. 



Tliis (irouse is found wherever wooded country is to be met with, and is 

 especially fond of the craggy sides of mountains and hills, and the borders 

 of rivers and small streams. They also often occur in I'oiisiderable nnni- 

 liers in low lands, and were discov(>red liy Air. Audubon l)recdiiig in the 

 thickest cane-brakes of Indiana and Kentucky. 



Tiiey find in the.se wooded regions at once the means of food and shelter. 

 In these localities they lireed, and there tliey may usually be seen at all 

 seasons of the j'ear. They are thus to be met with in nearly all the Southern 

 States, being iibundant in the Carolinas, in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missis- 

 sippi, as far to the southwest as Xatchez. They are not known to occur in 

 any ])art of Louisiana. Dr. Newberry did not encounter this bird within 

 the limits of California, but found them very ab\indant in the wooded por- 

 doiis of the Cascade ^lountains aii(l in the Willamette Valley. The Oregon 

 specimens were generally darker tlian the eastern varieties, but the habits 

 were apparently everywhere the same. 



In many important resjtccts the habits of this bird a])pear to l)e essentially 

 difi'erent from those of the Pinnated Grouse. Uiilik(! that species, it is rarely 

 met with on o])eii ]ilaiiis. 'i'liough the food of the two species a])])ears 

 to be very similar, this jieculiarity and diiterence ol' abode is ipiite striking. 

 This is more iioticealile at the South than in the more northern and 

 V 'estern portions of the country, whei'e, however, this specie^ seems to seek, 

 and the mpiilo to avt)id, the wooded sections. 



They differ, also, in their more solitary (lis])osition, being never seen in 

 groups of more than four or five, and rarely otiier tliaii singly or in ])airs. 

 Wilson observed, while travelling among tlie mountains of l'enn.sylvania. 

 tliat these birds left the woods early in the morning to seek tlie open path 

 or road to ]iick up gravel or to glean among the drojijtings of tlie horses, 

 and he was thus enabled to supply himself without leaving the ]tath. On 

 the ground they Mere observtul io move with great .stateliness, spreading out 

 tlieir 1>road fan-like tails. 



