336 
ACCOUNT OF SEVERAL 
those of a pigeon. They are more numerous than the 
larger species, with which they associate and live in 
harmony. They are shy, and not easily approached by 
the sportsman.’ 
“ The fourth species is named, in honour of Mr Sabine, 
Tetrao Sabini . Its plumage is rich and varied, and 
presents those singular appendages or shoulder-knots 
so conspicuous in another species, to which it bears a 
great resemblance, the wood partridge of the United 
States and Canada ( Tetrao umbellus .) The sexes do 
not differ much from each other. The colours of the 
female are grayer and less richly toned. The weight 
is two pounds. 
“ Of this species the flight is rapid, and consists of a 
quick clapping of the wings, and then of a sudden 
darting or shooting forwards, with scarcely any dis- 
cernible movement of the individual parts. They feed 
on the buds of Firms , Fragaria , Fubus , Corylus , and 
Alnus , and the berries of Vaccinium . They build upon 
the ground in coppices of Corylus , Amelanchier , and 
Fteris , on the outskirts of pine forests ; their nests 
are composed of the slender fronds of Fteris , dry leaves, 
and grass.* They pair in March. The eggs are of a 
* Nests of jBirds. ■ — “ The construction and selected situations 
of the nests of birds, are as remarkable as the variety of materials 
employed in them, — the same forms, places, and articles, being 
rarely, perhaps never, found united by the different species, 
which we should suppose similar necessities would direct to a 
uniform provision. Birds that build early in the spring, seem to 
require warmth and shelter for their young ; and the blackbird and 
the thrush line their nests with a plaster of loam, perfectly 
excluding, by these cottage-like walls, the keen icy gales of our 
opening year ; yet, should accident bereave the parents of their first 
hopes, they will construct another, even when summer is far 
advanced, upon the model of their first erection, and with the 
same precautions against severe weather, when all necessity for 
such provision has ceased, and the usual temperature of the season 
requiring coolness and a free circulation of air. The house 
sparrow will commonly build four or five times in the year, and in 
a variety of situations, under the warm eaves of our houses and 
our sheds, the branch of the clustered fir, or the thick tall hedge 
3 
