276 
PINNATED GROUSE. 
are already perfectly acquainted with tlieir classification and description. 
In a short memoir •written in 1803, and printed in the eighth volume of 
the Medical Repository, I ventured an opinion as to the genus and 
species. Whether I was correct is a technical matter, which I leave 
you to adjust. I am well aware that European accounts of our pro- 
ductions are often erroneous, and require revision and amendment. 
This you must perform. For me it remains to repeat my joy at the 
opportunity your invitation has afforded me to contribute somewhat to 
your elegant work, and at the same time to assure you of my earnest 
hope that you may be favored with ample means to complete it. 
" Samuel L. Mitchill. " 
Duly sensible of the honor of the foregoing communication, and 
grateful for the good wishes with which it is concluded, I shall now, in 
further elucidation of the subject, subjoin a few particulars properly 
belonging to my own department. 
It is somewhat extraordinary that the European naturalists, in their 
various accounts of our different species of Grouse, should have said 
little or nothing of the one now before us, which in its voice, manners, 
and peculiarity of plumage, is the most singular, and in its flesh the 
most excellent, of all those of its tribe that inherit the territory of the 
United States. It seems to have escaped Catesby during his residence 
and different tours through this country, and it was not till more than 
twenty years after his return to England, viz. in 1743, that he first 
saw some of these birds, as he informs us, at Cheswick, the seat of 
the Earl of Wilmington. His lordship said they came from America ; 
but from what particular part could not toll.* Buffon has confounded 
it with the Ruffed Grouse, the common Partridge of New England, or 
Pheasant of Pennsylvania (Tetrao umbellus) ; Edwards and Pennant 
have, however, discovered that it is a different species ; but have said 
little of its note, of its flesh, or peculiarities; for, alas! there was 
neither voice nor action, nor delicacy of flavor in the shrunk and 
decayed skin from which the former took his figure, and the latter his 
description ; and to this circumstance must be attributed the barrenness 
and defects of both. 
That the curious may have an opportunity of examining to more ad- 
vantage this singular bird, a figure of the male is here given as large as 
life, drawn with great care from the most perfect of several elegant 
specimens shot in the Barrens of Kentucky. He is represented in the 
act of strutting, as it is called, while with inflated throat he produces 
that extraordinary sound so familiar to every one who resides in his 
vicinity, and which has been described in the foregoing account. So 
Catesb. Car. p. 101, App. 
