398 PINNATED GROUSE. 



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 shewing in them any 

 disposition to migration. 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 preferred to high 

 shrubbery and thickets. Into these latter 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 grouse are short, but sudden, rapid, 

 and whining. I have not heard of any success in taming 

 them. They seem to resist all attempts at domestication. In 

 this, as well as in many other respects, they resemble the 

 quail of New York, or the partridge of Pennslyvania. 



" Manners. — During the period of mating, and while the 

 females are occupied in incubation, the males have a practice 

 of assembling, principally by themselves. To some select and 

 central spot, where there is very little underwood, they repair 

 from the adjoining district. From the exercises performed 

 there, this is called a scratching place. The time of meeting is 

 the break of day. As soon as the light appears, the company 

 assembles from every side, sometimes to the number of 

 forty or fifty. When the dawn is past, the ceremony begins 

 by a low tooting from one of the cocks. This is answered by 

 another. They then come forth one by one from the bushes, 

 and strut about with all the pride and ostentation they can 

 % display. Their necks are incurvated ; the feathers on them 

 are erected into a sort of ruff ; the plumes of the tails are 

 expanded like fans ; they strut about in a style resembling, as 

 nearly as small may be illustrated by great, the pomp of the 

 turkey cock. They seem to vie with each other in stateliness ; 

 and, as they pass each other, frequently cast looks of insult, 



