AND AMERICAN RURAL SPORTS. 
15 
Formerly they were numerous in the immediate vicinity 
of Philadelphia; but as the woods were cleared, and popu- 
lation increased, they retreated to the interior. At present 
there are very few to be found within several miles of the 
city, and those only singly, in the most solitary and retired 
woody recesses. 
In the uninhabited wilds of the north, far from the per- 
secuting energies of its great enemy, man, this bird be- 
comes almost as tame as the domestic fowl, and will seldom 
fly at the approach of the traveller, but contents itself by 
merely walking a short distance from his path to avoid him. 
In the State of Maine, Mr. T. R. Peale saw a great num- 
ber, and experienced this fact, as they could scarcely be 
made to fly; and if chased would only run but a few yards 
into the bushes, and then stop. 
The Pheasant is in best order for the table in September 
and October. At this season they feed chiefly on whortle- 
berries, and the little red aromatic partridge-berries, the 
last of which gives their flesh a peculiar delicate flavour. 
With the former our mountains are literally covered from 
August to November; and these constitute at that season 
the greater part of their food. During the deep snows of 
winter, they have recourse to the buds of alder, and the 
tender buds of the laurel. I have frequently found their 
crops distended with a large handful of these latter alone; 
and it has been confidently asserted, that after having fed 
for some time on the laurel buds, their flesh becomes highly 
dangerous to eat of, partaking of the poisonous qualities of 
the plant. The same has been asserted of the flesh of the 
deer, when in severe weather, and deep snows, they sub- 
sist on the leaves and bark of the laurel. Though I have 
myself eat freely of the flesh of the Pheasant, after empty- 
ing it of large quantities of laurel buds, without experi- 
encing any bad consequences, yet, from the respectability 
of those, some of them eminent physicians, who have par- 
ticularized cases in which it has proved deleterious, and 
even fatal, I am inclined to believe that in certain cases 
where this kind of food has been long continued, and the 
birds allowed to remain undrawn for several days, until 
the contents of the crop and stomach have had time to 
diffuse themselves through the flesh, as is too often the 
case, it may be unwholesome, and even dangerous. Great 
numbers of these birds are brought to our markets, at all 
times during fall and winter, some of which are brought 
from a distance of more than a hundred miles, and have 
been probably dead a week or two, unpicked and undrawn, 
before they are purchased for the table. Regulations, pro- 
hibiting them from being brought to market, unless picked 
and drawn, would very probably be a sufficient security 
from all danger. At these inclement seasons, however, 
they are generally lean and dry, and indeed at all times 
their flesh is far inferior to that of the Quail, or of the 
Pinnated Grous. They are usually sold in Philadelphia 
market at from three quarters of a dollar to a dollar and a 
quarter a pair, and sometimes higher. 
The Pheasant or Partridge of New England, is eighteen 
inches long, and twenty-three inches in extent; bill a horn 
colour, paler below; eye reddish hazel, immediately above 
which is a small spot of bare skin of a scarlet colour; 
crested head and neck variegated with black, red brown, 
white and pale brown; sides of the neck furnished with a 
tuft of large black feathers, twenty-nine or thirty in num- 
ber, which it occasionally raises: this tuft covers a large 
space of the neck destitute of feathers; body above a bright 
rust colour, marked with oval spots of yellowish white, 
and sprinkled with black; wings plain olive brown, exte- 
riorly edged with white, spotted with olive; the tail is 
rounding, extends five inches beyond the tips of the wings, 
is of a bright reddish brown, beautifully marked with 
numerous waving transverse bars of black, is also crossed 
by a broad band of black within half an inch of the tip, 
which is bluish white, thickly sprinkled and speckled with 
black; body below white, marked with large blotches of 
pale brown; the legs are covered half way to the feet with 
hairy down, of a brownish white colour; legs and feet pale 
ash; toes pectinated along the sides, the two exterior ones 
joined at the base as far as the first joint by a membrane; 
vent yellowish rust colour. 
The female and young birds differ in having the ruff or 
tufts of feathers on the neck of a dark brown colour, as 
well as the bar of black on the tail inclining much to the 
same tint. 
HUNTING SPIDERS. 
There is a tribe of hunting Spiders that leap like 
tigers on their prey, and, what is more extraordinary, have 
the faculty of doing so sideways. One of these jumped 
two feet on a humble-bee. They approach the object of 
their intended attack with the noiseless and imperceptible 
motion of the shadow of a sun-dial. If the fly move, the 
Spider moves also, backwards, forwards, or sideways, 
and that with so much precision as to time and distance, 
that the two insects appear as if bound together by some 
invisible chain, or actuated by the same spirit. If the fly 
take wing and pitch behind the Spider, the head of the lat- 
ter is turned round to meet it so quickly that the human eye 
is deceived, and the Spider appears to be motionless. 
When all these manoeuvres bring the fly within its springs, 
the leap is made with fearful rapidity, and the prey struck 
down like lightning. The redeeming trait in the history of 
these cruel creatures is affection for their young.— Fam.Lib. 
