196 PRAIRIE AND FOREST. 
themselves is most surprising. Frequently have I got un- 
expectedly into the centre of a family, when up they would 
rise, like a flight of bees, and as rapidly drop again; certain- 
ly you see the exact spot on which they have alighted— 
that tuft of grass, you believe, most surely contains one, 
but search as you will, turn over carefully every blade, look 
well about the roots —all is useless, for no fledgeling will 
you discover. 
At the commencement of the pairing season, particularly 
if the weather is calm and cloudy, the male birds call all 
day; thei: note resembling the lowing of a cow, which can 
be heard distinctly for over a mile. As the spring ad- 
vances they confine this habit to evening and morning, but 
by the time the brood is hatched, cease it altogether. The 
peculiarity of the call of the males of this species is such, 
that once heard, it is difficult to forget, particularly when 
softened by distance. It is produced by forcing the air out 
of two orange-colored receptacles placed on either side of 
the throat, and which, when inflated, are as large in cir- 
cumference as a man’s finger, perfectly free from feathers 
upon their surface, but hid when in a state of quiescence by 
fan-shaped bunches of hackles that completely cover them.* 
The pinnated grouse is about the size of our pheasant. 
However, they differ considerably, those birds that inhabit 
Southern Illinois being at least one-fourth larger than those 
obtained in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the North-west prai- 
ries. They are ofa beautiful mottled brown and fawn color, 
frequently with white finger-marks on the upper portion of 
the wings and back, are feathered down the legs to the 
feet, have beautifully set-on small heads, with a slight crest, 
and bright yellow iris. When standing, their attitude is 
very erect, but graceful. On being flushed, they invariably 
* The most killing hackles for tying trout-flies, 
