PINNATED GROUSE. 259 
pair seldom‘se..» in the New York market now-a-days for less than 
thirty shillings, [three dollars, seventy-five cents,] nor for more than 
forty, [five dollars.] I'hese prices indicate, indeed, the depreciation 
of money and the luxury of eating. They prove, at the same time, 
‘that Grouse are become rare; and this fact is admitted by every man 
who seeks them, whether for pleasure or for profit. 
“ Amours. — The season for pairing is in March, and the breeding , 
time is continued through April and May. Then the male Grouse 
distinguishes himself by a peculiar sound. When he utters it, the 
parts ‘about the throat are sensibly inflated and swelled. It may be 
heard on a still morning for three or more miles; some say they have 
perceived it as far as five or six. This noise is a sort of ventriloquism. 
It does not strike the ear of a bystander with much force, but impresses 
him with the idea, though produced within a few rods of him, of 
a voice a mile or two distant. This note is highly characteristic. 
Though very peculiar, it is termed tooting, from its resemblance to the 
blowing of a conch or horn from a remote quarter. The female makes 
her nest on the ground, in recesses very rarely discovered by men. She 
usually lays from ten to twelve eggs. Their color is of a brownish, 
much resembling those of a Guinea Hen. When hatched, the brood 
is protected by her alone. Surrounded by her young, the mother bird 
exceedinoly resembles a domestic Hen and Chickens. She frequently 
leads them to feed in the roads crossing the woods, on the rémains of 
maize and oats contained in the dung dropped by the travelling horses. 
In that employment they are often surprised by the passengers. On 
such occasions the dam utters a cry of alarm. The little ones imme- 
diately scamper to the brush; and while they are skulking into places 
of safety, their anxious parent beguiles the spectator by drooping and 
fluttering her wings, Jimping along the path, rolling over in the dirt, 
and other pretences of inability to walk or fly. 
“ Food.— A favorite article of their diet is the heath-hen plum, or 
partridgeberry-before mentioned. They are fond of hurtleberries 
and cranberries. Worms and insects of several kinds are occasion- 
ally found in their crops. But, in the winter, they subsist chiefly on 
‘acorns, and the buds of trees which have shed their leaves. In their 
stomachs have been sometimes observed the leaves of a plant sup- 
posed to be a winter green; and it is said, when they are much 
pinched, they betake themselves to the buds of the pine. In convenient 
places, they have been known to enter cleared fields, and regale them- 
selves on the leaves of clover; and old gunners have reported that 
they have been known to trespass upon patches of buckwheat, and 
pick up the grains. 
“ Migration. — They are stationary, and never known to quit their 
abode. There are no facts showing in them any disposition to migra- 
tion. On frosty mornings, and during snows, they perch on the upper 
branches of pine-trees. They avoid wet and swampy places, and are 
remarkably attached to dry ground. The low and open brush is pre- 
ferred to high shrubbery and thickets. Into these lat‘er places they 
fly for refuge when closely pressed by the hunters; and here, under a 
stiff and impenetrable cover, they escape the pursuit of dogs and men. 
Water is so seldom met with on the true Grouse ground, that it is 
necessary to carry it along for the pointers to drink. The flights of 
