212 RUFFED GROUSE. 



the Ohio in parties of eight or ten, now and then of twelve or fifteen, 

 and, on arriving there, linger in the woods close by for a week or a fort- 

 night, as if fearful of encountering the danger to be incurred in crossing 

 the stream. This usually happens in the beginning of October, when 

 these birds are in the very best order for the table, and at this period 

 great numbers of them are killed. If started from the ground, with or 

 without the assistance of a dog, they immediately alight on the nearest 

 trees, and are easily shot. At length, however, they resolve upon cross- 

 ing the river ; and this they accomplish with so much ease, that I never 

 saw any of them drop into the water. Not more than two or three days 

 elapse after they have reached the opposite shore, when they at once pro- 

 ceed to the interior of the forests, in search of places congenial to the 

 general character of their habits. They now resume their ordinary man- 

 ner of living, which they continue until the approach of spring, when 

 the males, as if leading the way, proceed singly towards the country from 

 which they had retreated. The females follow in small parties of three 

 or four. In the month of October 1820, I observed a larger number of 

 Ruffed Grouse migrating thus from the States of Ohio, Illinois and In- 

 diana into Kentucky, than I had ever before remarked. During the 

 short period of their lingering along the north-Avest shore of the Ohio 

 that season, a great number of them was killed, and they were sold in 

 the Cincinnati market for so small a sum as 12| cents each. 



Although these birds are particvilarly attached to the craggy sides of 

 mountains and hills, and the rocky borders of rivers and small streams, 

 thickly mantled with evergreen trees and small shrubs of the same nature, 

 they at times remove to low lands, and even enter the thickest cane-brakes, 

 where they also sometimes breed. I have shot some, and have heard them 

 drumming- in such places, when there were no hills nearer than fifteen or 

 twenty miles. The lower parts of the State of Indiana and also those of 

 Kentucky, are amongst the places where I have discovered them in such 

 situations. 



The charming groves which here and there contrast so beautifully 

 with the general dull appearance of those parts of Kentucky and Tennes- 

 see, to which the name of Barretts is given, are sought by the Ruffed 

 Grouse. These groves afford them abundant food and security. The 

 gentle coolness that prevails in them during the summer heat is agreeable 

 and beneficial to these birds, and the closeness of their undergrowth in 

 other spots moderates the cold blasts of winter. There this species breeds, 



