TRAM. 



362 HUFFED G R O U S. 



Size. In fize thefe birds obferve a medium between a Ptieafant and a 



"Partridge. Length i foot 5 inches. 

 Place. They inhabit North America, from Hudfon's Bay * to the Caroli- 



nas, and probably to Louiftana ■]'. 

 Manners. ^^^ hiftory of this fpecies is very curious-, all which I beg 



leave to tranfcribe from Mr. Edvoards, according to the accounts 

 given him by Mr. Bartram and Mr Brooke, who had frequent op- 

 portunity of obferving its manners ; to v/hich I fhall add another, 

 borrowed from the Travels of the Baron La Hontan. 

 From Mr. Bar- " He is {{zv'i'M.r. Bartram) a fine bird when his gaiety is dif- 

 " played ; that is, when he fpreads his tail like that of a Turkey- 

 " cock, and ereds a circle of feathers round his neck like a ruff, 

 " walking very ftately with an even pace, and making a noife fome- 

 " thing like a Turkey ; at which time the hunter muft fire immedi- 

 " ately at him, or he flies away direftly two or three hundred yards, 

 ^' before he fettles on the ground. There is fomethingvery remark- 

 " able in what we call their thumping ; which they do with their 

 '" wings, by clapping them againft their fides, as the hunters fay. 

 " They ftand upon an old fallen tree, that has lain many years on the 

 " ground, v/here they begin their ftrokes gradually, at about two fe- 

 '^ conds of time diftant from one another, and repeat them quicker 

 " and quicker, until they make a noife like thunder at a diftance ; 

 " which continues, from the beginning, about a minute j then ceaf- 

 " eth for about fix or eight minutes before it begins again. The 

 " found is heard near half a mile, by which means they are dif- 

 ■" covered by the hunters, and many of them killed. I have iliot 

 "many of them in this pofition 5 but never faw them thump, they 

 " moftly feeing me firfi, and fo left off". They commonly exercife 

 " in thumping fpring and fall, at about nine or ten in the morning, 



* Fhil. Tranf. Ixii. 393. 



f The accounts given by Bojfu, Engl. ed. \. 95^ and by T>u Pratz, ii. are too 

 flight for us to determine the fpecies they mean. Charlevoix, in his account of 

 .Canada, vol. v. defcribes it very well. 



'" and 



