THE RUFFED GROUSE. 
T5 
with, as you travel towards the south, through the whole of Tennessee and 
the Choctaw Territory : but as you approach the city of Natchez they 
disappear, nor have I ever heard of one of these birds having been seen in 
the State of Louisiana. 
The mountainous parts of the Middle States being more usually the 
chosen residence of this species, I shall, with your permission, kind reader, 
return to them, and try to give you an account of this valuable Grouse. 
The flight of the Ruffed Grouse is straight-forward, rather low, unless 
when the bird has been disturbed, and seldom protracted beyond a few 
hundred yards at a time. It is also stiff, and performed with a continued 
beating of the wings for more than half its duration, after which the bird 
sails and seems to balance its body as it proceeds through the air, in the 
manner of a vessel sailing right before the wind. When this bird rises 
from the ground at a time when pursued by an enemy, or tracked by a dog, 
it produces a loud whirring sound, resembling that of the whole tribe, 
excepting the Black Cock of Europe, which has less of it than any other 
species. This whirring sound is never heard when the Grouse rises of its 
own accord, for the purpose of removing from one place to another ; nor, in 
similar circumstances, is it commonly produced by our little Partridge. In 
fact, I do not believe that it is emitted by any species of Grouse, unless 
when surprised and forced to rise. I have often been lying on the ground 
in the woods or the fields for hours at. a time, for the express purpose of 
observing the movements and habits of different birds, and have frequently 
seen a Partridge or a Grouse rise on wing from within a few yards of the 
spot in which I lay unobserved by them, as gently and softly as any other 
bird, and without producing any whirring sound. Nor even when this 
Grouse ascends to the top of a tree, does it moke any greater noise than 
other birds of the same size would do. 
I have said this much respecting the flight of Grouse, because it is a pre- 
valent opinion, both among sportsmen and naturalists, that the whirring 
sound produced by birds of that genus is a necessary effect of their usual 
mode of flight. But that this is an error, I have abundantly satisfied my- 
self by numberless observations. 
On the ground, where the Ruffed Grouse spends a large portion of its 
time, its motions are peculiarly graceful. It walks with an elevated, firm 
step, opening its beautiful tail gently and with a well-marked jet, holding- 
erect its head, the feathers of which are frequently raised, as are the velvety 
tufts of its neck. It poises its body on one foot for several seconds at a 
time, and utters a soft cluck, which in itself implies a degree of confidence 
in thedoird that its tout ensemble is deserving of the notice of any bystander. 
Should the bird discover that it is observed, its step immediately changes to 
