326 
TETRAO CUPIDO. 
they are skiilkirifr into places of safety, their anxious 
parent beguiles the spectator by drooping and fluttering 
her u ings, limping along the jiath, rolling over in the 
dirt, and other pretences of inability to walk or fly. 
“ Food. — A favourite article of their diet is the 
heath-hen plnm, or partridgeberry before mentioned. 
They are fond of hurtleberriesandcraneberries. Worms 
and insects of several kinds are occasionally found in 
their crops. But, in the winter, they subsist chiefly on 
acorns, and the buds of trees which have shed their 
leaves. In their stommrhs have been sometimes ob- 
served the leaves of a ])lant snpjiosed to be a winter 
green ; and it is said, when they are much pinched, 
tliey betake themselves to the buds of the ])iue. In 
convenient places, they have been known to entercleared 
fields, and regale themselves on the leaves of clover; 
and old gunners have reported, that they have been 
k)iown to trespass upon patches of buckw heat, and pick 
up the gr.ains. 
“ 'iMigrntion. — The}^ are stationary, and never known 
to fjuit their abode. There arc no facta shewing in 
tliem any disposition to migration. On frosty morning-“> 
and during siiow.s, they perch on the upper branches of 
pine trees. They avoid wet and swampv places, and 
are remarkably attached to dry ground. The low and 
open brush is ju’eferred to high .shrubbery and thickets. 
Into these latter places, they fly for refufre w hen idoselV 
pressed by the hunters; and here, under a still' and 
impenetrable cover, they escape the pursuit of dogs and 
men. Water is so seldom met with on the time grotis*-’ 
ground, tliat it is necessary to carry it along for the 
pointers to drink. The flights of grouse are short, bid 
sudden, rapid, and whirring. T have not heard of any 
success in taming them. They seem to resist all attempb'* 
at donie.stication. Jn this, as well as in many otbet 
respects, they resemble the quail of New York, or tb® 
p.artridge of Pennsylvania. 
“ Manners. — During- the period of mating, and whil‘d 
the females are occupied in incubation, the males hav® 
a practice of assembling, principally by themsclvo^’ 
