t 189 ] 



hunter muft fire immediately at him, or he flies 

 away diredly for two or three hundSèd yards, 

 before he fettles to the ground. There is fome- 

 thing very remarkable in what we call their 

 thumping, Vv^hich they do with their wings, by 

 clapping them againft their fides, as the hunters 

 fay. They ftand upon an old fallen tree that 

 has lain many years on the ground, where they 

 begin their ftrokes gradually, at about two 

 féconds of time diftant from one another, and 

 repeat them quicker and quicker, until they 

 make a noife like thunder at a diftance ; which 

 continues, from the beginning, about a minute ; 

 then ceafeth for about fix or eight minutes be- 

 fore it begins again. The found is heard near 

 half a mile ; by which means they are difcover- 

 ed by the hunters, and many of them killed. 

 I have Ihot many of them in this pofitlon ; but 

 never faw them thump, they moftly feeing me 

 firft, and fo left off. They commonly exercife 

 thumping in Spring and Fall, at about nine or 

 ten in the morning, and four or five in the after- 

 noon. Their food is chiefly berries and feeds of 

 the country : their flefh is white, and choice 

 food. I believe they breed but once a year, in 

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