398 
PINNATED GROUSE. 
have reported, that they have been known to trespass upon 
patches of buckwheat, and pick up the grains. 
66 Migration . — They are stationary, and never known to 
quit their abode. There are no facts shewing in them any 
disposition to migration. On frosty mornings, and during 
snows, they perch on the upper branches of pine trees. They 
avoid wet and swampy places, and are remarkably attached to 
dry ground. The low and open brush is preferred to high 
shrubbery and thickets. Into these latter places they fly for 
refuge when closely pressed by the hunters ; and here, under 
a stiff and impenetrable cover, they escape the pursuit of dogs 
and men. Water is so seldom met with on the true Grouse 
ground, that it is necessary to carry it along for the pointers 
to drink. The flights of Grouse are short, but sudden, rapid, 
and whirring. I have not heard of any success in taming 
them. They seem to resist all attempts at domestication. In 
this, as well as in many other respects, they resemble the 
Quail of New York, or the Partridge of Pennsylvania. 
66 Manners. — During the period of mating, and while the 
females are occupied in incubation, the males have a practice 
of assembling, principally by themselves. To some select and 
central spot, where there is very little underwood, they repair 
from the adjoining district. From the exercises performed 
there, this is called a scratching place. The time of meeting 
is the break of day. As soon as the light appears, the com- 
pany assembles from every side, sometimes to the number of 
forty or fifty. When the dawn is past, the ceremony begins 
by a low tooting from one of the cocks. This is answered by 
another. They then come forth one by one from the bushes, 
and strut about with all the pride and ostentation they can 
display. Their necks are incurvated ; the feathers on them 
are erected into a sort of ruff ; the plumes of their tails are 
expanded like fans ; they strut about in a style resembling, as 
nearly as small may be illustrated by great, the pomp of the 
Turkey Cock. They seem to vie with each other in stateli- 
ness ; and, as they pass each other, frequently cast looks of 
