182 



THE OOLOGIST 



plentiful in Northeastern Ohio where 

 it is about holding its own. There are 

 only nine days of hunting them al- 

 lowed but this is plenty long enough 

 for this bird is shot very extensively 

 during closed seasons. What unscrup- 

 ulous hunter could resist a shot at this, 

 the finest Grouse, when accidentally 

 flushed during rabbit, squirrel, or at 

 any other period of the hunting season. 

 A great many hunters would forget 

 their scruples rather suddenly when 

 they hear the "whir" of the fast re- 

 treating partridge. This especially ap- 

 plies to the lawless city hunter who 

 is out for a good time and shoots at 

 everything he sees from chipmunks to 

 turkey vultures. 



But this is getting somewhat off the 

 subject and I wish to speak of the 

 habits of this bird. You will not find 

 them plentiful in an open wood but in 

 one where there is plenty of under- 

 growth you may be fairly certain of 

 their presence. Their drumming is 

 one of the characteristic sounds of the 

 woodland during the spring and early 

 summer. 



They begin nesting during the first 

 two weeks of May in this section and 

 if disturbed will usually nest again the 

 last of the month. The nest is rough- 

 ly made of leaves and twigs sunk in 

 the ground at the foot of a tree, under 

 brush piles, beside old logs, etc. They 

 nearly always nest well within the out- 

 skirts of the woods, but I found one 

 nest located in a lane, which contained 

 but a few trees and nearly one-fourth 

 of a mile from the woods. The nest 

 was placed in a stump, one side of 

 which was partly torn away. It was 

 scantily lined with a few leaves, so 

 that one of the eggs were lying upon 

 the rotten wood. 



making a compact nest. I have never 

 found a nest on the north or west 

 side of a tree; the favorite position 

 being is a south easterly direction. 

 The choice of a tree seems to be the 

 beech or maple of one and one half 

 feet or less in diameter. The female 

 usually nests in the wood that the 

 pair has frequented before nesting 

 season. The eggs number six to fif- 

 teen, first sets containing ten or more, 

 the average being twelve. 



Ii. Miller, 

 E. Clariden, Ohio. 



Another nest was elevated slightly 

 above the ground and composed of al- 

 ternate layers of leaves and twigs 



Audubon's Travels. 



In 1837, the great naturalist Audu- 

 bon came to Texas on a search for 

 new birds. He writes of Houston in 

 his dairy as follows: 



"We landed at Houston, the capital 

 of Texas, drenched to the skin, and 

 were kindly received on board the 

 steamer Yellow Stone. Captain West 

 gave us his stateroom to change our 

 clothes and furnished us refreshments 

 and dinner. The Buffalo Bayou had 

 risen about six feet, and the neighbor- 

 ing prairies were partly covered with 

 water; there was a wild and desolate 

 look cast on the surrounding scenery. 

 Shanties, cargoes of hogsheads, bar- 

 rels, etc., were spread about the land- 

 ing, and Indians drunk and hallooing 

 were stumbling about in the mud in 

 every direction. 



"We walked toward the President's 

 house, accompanied by the secretary 

 of the navy. Houses, half finished, 

 and most of them without roofs, tents, 

 and a liberty pole, with the capitol, 

 were all exhibited to our view at once. 

 We approached the president's man- 

 sion, however, wading in water above 

 our ankles. This abode of President 

 Houston is a small log house, consist- 

 ing of two rooms and a passage 

 through, after the Southern fashion. 

 The moment we stepped over the 



