PINNATED GROUSE. 
331 
the cup containing' the water was placed. Happening-, 
one day, to let some water fall on the cage, it trickled 
down in drops along the bars, which the bird no sooner 
observed, than she eagerly picked them off, drop by 
drop, with a dexterity that shewed she had been 
habituated to this mode of quenching her thirst ; and, 
probably, to this mode only, in those dry and barren 
tracts, where, except the drops of dew, and drops of 
rain, water is very rarely to be met with. For the 
space of a week he watched her closely, to discover 
whether she still refused to drink; but, though she was 
constantly fed on Indian corn, the cup and water still 
remained untouched and untasted. Yet no sooner did 
he again sprinkle water on the bars of the cage, than 
she eagerly and rapidly picked them off as before. 
The last, and, probably, the strongest inducement 
to their preferring these plains, is the small acorn of 
the shrub oak ; the strawberries, huckleberries, and 
partridgeberries, with which they abound, and which 
constitute the principal part of the food of these birds. 
These brushy thickets also afford them excellent shelter, 
being almost impenetrable to dogs or birds of prey. 
In all these places where they inhabit, they are, in 
the strictest sense of the word, resident ; having their 
particular haunts, and places of rendezvous, (as described 
in the preceding account,) to which they are strongly 
attached. Yet they have been known to abandon an 
entire tract of such country, when, from whatever cause 
it might proceed, it became again covered with forest. 
A few miles south of the town of York, in Pennsylvania, 
commences an extent of country, formerly of the cha- 
racter described, now chiefly covered with wood, but 
still retaining the name of Barrens. In the recollection 
of an old man born in that part of the country, this 
tract abounded with grouse. The timber growing up, 
in progress of years, these birds totally disappeared ; 
and, for a long period of time, he had seen none of 
them, until, migrating with his family to Kentucky, on 
entering the Barrens, he, one morning, recognized the 
well known music of his old acquaintance, the grouse ; 
