PINNATED GROUSE. 
395 
disposition is to let it grow up to forest again. Experience 
has proved, that, in a term of forty or fifty years, the new 
growth of timber will be fit for the axe. Hence it may be 
perceived, that the reproduction of trees, and the protection 
they afford to Heath-hens, would be perpetual, or, in other 
words, not circumscribed by any calculable time, provided the 
persecutors of the latter would be quiet. 
64 Beneath these trees grow more dwarfish oaks, over- 
spreading the surface, sometimes with here and there a shrub, 
and sometimes a thicket. These latter are from about two to 
ten feet in height. Where they are the principal product, 
they are called, in common conversation, brush , as the flats 
on which they grow are termed brushy plains . Among this 
hardy shrubbery may frequently be seen the creeping vege- 
table named the partridgeberry, covering the sand with its 
lasting verdure. In many spots, the plant which produces 
hurtleberries sprouts up among the other natives of the soil. 
These are the more important ; though I ought to inform you, 
that the hills reaching from east to west, and forming the 
spine of the island, support kalmias, hickories, and many other 
species ; that I have seen azalias and andromedas, as I passed 
through the wilderness ; and that, where there is water, 
craneberries, alders, beeches, maples, and other lovers of 
moisture, take their stations. 
44 This region, situated thus between the more thickly 
inhabited strips, or belts, on the north and south sides of the 
island, is much travelled by wagons, and intersected, accor- 
dingly, by a great number of paths. 
44 As to the birds themselves, the information I possess 
scarcely amounts to an entire history. You, who know the 
difficulty of collecting facts, will be the most ready to excuse 
my deficiencies. The information I give you is such as I 
rely on. For the purpose of gathering the materials, I have 
repeatedly visited their haunts. I have likewise conversed 
with several men who were brought up at the precincts of the 
Grouse ground, who had been witnesses of their habits and 
manners, who were accustomed to shoot them for the market. 
