THE RUFFED GROUSE. 75 



with, as you travel towards the south, through the whole of Tennessee and 

 the Choctaw Territory; but as you approach the city of Natchez they 

 disappear, nor have I ever heard of one of these birds having been seen in 

 the State of Louisiana. 



The mountainous parts of the Middle States being more usually the 

 chosen residence of this species, I shall, with your permission, kind reader, 

 return to them, and try to give you an account of this valuable Grouse. 



The flight of the Ruffed Grouse is straight-forward, rather low, unless 

 when the bird has been disturbed, and seldom protracted beyond a few 

 hundred yards at a time. It is also stiff, and performed with a continued 

 beating of the wings for more than half its duration, after which the bird 

 sails and seems to balance its body as it proceeds through the air, in the 

 manner of a vessel sailing right before the wind. When this bird rises 

 from the ground at a time when pursued by an enemy, or tracked by a dog, 

 it produces a loud whirring sound, resembling that of the whole tribe, 

 excepting the Black Cock of Europe, which has less of it than any other 

 species. This whirring sound is never heard when the Grouse rises of its 

 own accord, for the purpose of removing from one place to another; nor, in 

 similar circumstances, is it commonly produced by our little Partridge. In 

 fact, I do not believe that it is emitted by any species of Grouse, unless 

 when surprised and forced to rise. I have often been lying on the ground 

 in the woods or the fields for hours at a time, for the express purpose of 

 observing the movements and habits of different birds, and have frequently 

 seen a Partridge or a Grouse rise on wing from within a few yards of the 

 spot in which I lay unobserved by them, as gently and softly as any other 

 bird, and without producing any whirring sound. Nor even when this 

 Grouse ascends to the top of a tree, does it make any greater noise than 

 other birds of the same size would do. 



I have said this much respecting the flight of Grouse, because it is a preva- 

 lent opinion, both among sportsmen and naturalists, that the whirring sound 

 produced by birds of that genus, is a necessary effect of their usual mode of 

 flight. But that this is an error, I have abundantly satisfied myself by 

 numberless observations. 



On the ground, where the Ruffed Grouse spends a large portion of its 

 time, its motions are peculiarly graceful. It walks with an elevated, firm 

 step, opening its beautiful tail gently and with a well-marked jet, holding 

 erect its head, the feathers of which are frequently raised, as are the velvety 

 tufts of its neck. It poises its body on one foot for several seconds at a 

 time, and utters a soft cluck, which in itself implies a degree of confidence 

 in the bird that its tout ensemble is deserving of the notice of any bystander. 

 Should the bird discover that it -is observed, its step immediately changes to 



