PINNATED GROUSE. 
325 
ones, are becoming* less frequent. Their numbers are 
gradually diminishing; and, assailed as they are on all 
sides, almost without cessation, their scarcity may be 
viewed as foreboding their eventual extermination. 
“Price. — Twenty years ago, a brace of grouse could 
be bought for a dollar. They now cost from three to 
live dollars, A handsome pair seldom sells in the New 
York market now-a-days for less than thirty shillings, 
[three dollars, seventy-five cents,] nor for more than 
forty, [five dollars.] These prices indicate, indeed, the 
depreciation of money and the luxury of eating*. They 
prove, at the same time, that grouse are become rare ; 
and this fact is admitted by every man who seeks them, 
whether for pleasure or for profit. 
“ Amours . — The season for pairing is in March, and 
the breeding time is continued through April and May. 
Then the male grouse distinguishes himself by a peculiar 
sound. When he utters it, the parts about the throat 
are sensibly inflated and swelled. It may be heard on 
a still morning for three or more miles; some say they 
have perceived it as far as five or six. This noise is a 
sort of ventriloquism. It does not strike the ear of a 
bystander with much force, but impresses him with the 
idea, though produced within a few rods of him, of a 
voice a mile or two distant. This note is highly charac- 
teristic. Though very peculiar, it is termed tooting , 
from its resemblance to the blowing* of a conch or horn 
from a remote quarter. The female makes her nest on 
the ground, in recesses very rarely discovered by men. 
She usually lays from ten to twelve eggs. Their colour 
is of a brownish, much resembling those of a guinea 
hen. When hatched, the brood is protected by her 
alone. Surrounded by her young, the mother bird 
exceedingly resembles a domestic hen and chickens. 
She frequently leads them to feed in the roads crossing 
the woods, on the remains of maize and oats contained 
in the dung dropped by the travelling horses. In that 
employment they are often surprised by the passengers. 
On such occasions the dam utters a cry of alarm. The 
little ones immediately scamper to the brush ; and while 
