CLASS II. AVES: 
ORDEE 5. RASORES. 
239 
male has a slight crest on the head, and a yellow wattle on each side of the neck like a small orange ; 
this the bird is able to inflate with air, and thus to produce a curious tooting sound, which 
echoes through the woods, and is nsed as the call to the female. Wiien the tooting is over these 
bladders become relaxed. Audubon found, on perforating them with a pin, that tliey could no 
longer be inflated. This species goes nnder the names of Prairie-Hen and Ileath-IIen, besides 
that given at the head of this article. It feeds on grasshoppers, wheat, and Indian corn, which it 
gathers in the fields, seeds of various kinds, and bads of trees. Their haunts are among fields and 
grounds covered with bushes or shrub-oaks. One of their habits is thus described by Dr. Mitchell 
in Wilson's Ornithology: "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 li'om the adjoining dis- 
trict. From the exercises performed there, this is called a Scratching-place. The time of meeting 
is the break of daj^ As soon as the light appears, the company assembles from every side, some- 
times to the number of forty or fifty. When the dawn is passed, the ceremony begins with 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 their 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, and utter notes of defiance. These are the 
signals for battles. They engage with wonderful spirit and fierceness, leaping a foot or two from 
the ground, and uttering a cackling, screaming, and discordant cry." 
CANADA GROUSE. 
The Heath-hen was formerly abundant throughout the United States; a few only are now found 
in the Eastern States ; they are still common in the West, where they were formerly so numer- 
