326 
TETRAO CUPIDO. 
they are skulking 1 into places of safety, their anxious 
parent beguiles the spectator by drooping and fluttering 
her wings, limping along the path, rolling over in the 
dirt, and other pretences of inability to walk or fly. 
“ Food. — A favourite article of their diet is the 
heath-hen plum , or partridgeberry before mentioned. 
They are fond of hurtleberries and craneberries. Worms 
and insects of several kinds are occasionally found in 
their crops. But, in the winter, they subsist chiefly on 
acorns, and the buds of trees which have shed their 
leaves. In their stomachs have been sometimes ob- 
served the leaves of a plant supposed to be a winter 
green ; and it is said, when they are much pinched, 
they betake themselves to the buds of the pine. In 
convenient places, they have been known to enter cleared 
fields, and regale themselves on the leaves of clover; 
and old gunners have reported, that they have been 
known to trespass upon patches of buckwheat, and pick 
up the grains. 
“ 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. 
“ Manners .— -During the period of mating, and while 
the females are occupied in incubation, the males have 
a practice of assembling, principally by themselves. 
