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THE WILLOW GROUS. 



Tetrao Saliceti, Temm. 



PLATE CXCI. Male. Female and Young. 



Although I have not seen this beautiful bird within the Htnits of the 

 United States, I feel assured that it exists in the State of Maine, as well 

 as in the northern districts bordering on the great lakes. Theodore 

 Lincoln, Esq. of Dennisville in Maine, shot seven one day, not many 

 miles from that village ; and the hunter who guided me to the breeding 

 grounds of the Canada Grous, assured me, that he also knew where the 

 " Red-necked Partridge" was to be found. The places which he described 

 as frequented by them, seemed to bear as near a resemblance to those in 

 which I found the species in Labrador and Newfoundland, as the differ- 

 ence of latitude and vegetation could admit. I have also seen several 

 skins of individuals that were killed near Lake Michigan. 



The Willow Grous differs in its habits from the Canada Grous in se- 

 veral remarkable circumstances. In the first place, neither myself nor 

 any of my party ever found the former solitary or single. The males 

 were always in the immediate vicinity of the nest while the females were 

 sitting, and accompanied them and the young, from the time the latter were 

 hatched until they were full-grown ; and whenever we met with them, we 

 observed that the males and the females manifested the strongest attach- 

 ment towards each other, as well as towards their young. In fact, so 

 much was this the case, that when a covey happened to come in our way, 

 the parents would fly directly towards us with so much boldness, that 

 some were actually killed on the wing with the rods of our guns, as they 

 flew about in the agonies of rage and despair, with all their feathers raised 

 and rufHed. In the mean time, the little ones dispersed and made off 

 through the deep moss and tangled creeping plants with great rapidity, 

 squatting and keeping close to the ground, when it became extremely 

 difficult to find them. This is the only American species of Grous I am 

 acquainted with that possesses these habits ; in all others found in the 

 United States, the male not only leaves the female as soon as incubation 

 has commenced, but both fly from man and urge their young to do the 

 same from their earliest age. 



