PINNATED GROUSE. 
401 
It seems to have escaped Catesby during his residence and 
different tours through this country, and it was not till more 
than twenty years after his return to England, viz. in 1748, 
that he first saw some of these birds, as he informs us, at 
Cheswick, the seat of the Earl of Wilmington. His lordship 
said they came from America ; but from what particular part, 
could not tell.* Buffon has confounded it with the Ruffed 
Grouse, the common Partridge of New England, or Pheasant 
of Pennsylvania, ( Tetrao umbellus ;) Edwards and Pennant 
have, however, discovered that it is a different species ; but 
have said little of its note, of its flesh, or peculiarities ; for, alas ! 
there was neither voice, nor action, nor delicacy of flavour in 
the shrunk and decayed skin from which the former took his 
figure, and the latter his description ; and to this circumstance 
must be attributed the barrenness and defects of both. 
That the curious may have an opportunity of examining to 
more advantage this singular bird, a figure of the male is here 
given, as large as life, drawn with great care from the most 
perfect of several elegant specimens shot in the Barrens of 
Kentucky. He is represented in the act of strutting , as it is 
called, while with inflated throat he produces that extraordinary 
sound so familiar to every one who resides in his vicinity, and 
which has been described in the foregoing account. So very 
novel and characteristic did the action of these birds appear to 
me at first sight, that, instead of shooting them down, I sketched 
their attitude hastily on the spot, while concealed among a 
brush heap, with seven or eight of them within a short distance. 
Three of these I afterwards carried home with me. 
This rare bird, though an inhabitant of different and very 
distant districts of North America, is extremely particular in 
selecting his place of residence ; pitching only upon those 
tracts whose features and productions correspond with his 
modes of life, and avoiding immense intermediate regions that 
he never visits. Open dry plains, thinly interspersed with 
trees, or partially overgrown with shrub oak, are his favourite 
haunts. Accordingly we find these birds on the Grouse plains 
* Catesby, Car. p. 101. App. 
2 c 
VOL. I. 
