888 
ACCOUNT OF SEVERAL 
small Hocks, rarely exceeding* eight or twelve. At 
other seasons it seldom happens that more than three 
or four are seen together. This species exhibits a 
remarkably strong attachment to its young. When 
the hunter approaches the spot where the brood lie 
concealed, the mother usually sallies forth in the 
greatest rage, with the tail broadly spread, the wings 
buzzing and rubbing on the ground, and the shoulder- 
knots raised ; and in this grotesque condition she 
continues to run backwards and forwards, in a state of 
the most anxious solicitude, within a few yards of the 
sportsman, whose feelings are probably in no way 
softened by such an exhibition of maternal tenderness. 
“ Sabine’s grouse not only resembles Tetrao umhellus 
in the prevailing characters of its plumage, but also in 
its habit of perching on stumps of decayed trees in the 
darkest parts of the forest, and there performing the 
singular operation called drumming , which is effected 
by giving two or three lond distinct slaps with the 
wings, followed by many others, which become quicker 
for its nest ; the gray flycatcher will have cobwebs for the outworks 
of its shed. All the parus tribe, except the individual above men- 
tioned, select some hollow in a tree, or cranny in a wall ; and, 
sheltered as such places must be, yet will they collect abundance of 
feathers, and warm materials for their infants’ beds. Endless 
examples might be found of the dissimilarity of requirements in 
these constructions among the several associates of our groves, our 
hedges, and our houses ; and yet the supposition cannot be 
entertained for a moment, that they are superfluous, or not 
essential, for some purpose with which we are unacquainted.* 
* “ I remember no bird that seems to suffer so frequently from the 
peculiar construction of its nest, and, by reason of our common obser- 
vance of its sufferings, obtains more of our pity, than the house martin. 
The rooks will at times have their nests torn, from their airy site, or 
have their eggs shaken from it by the gales of spring, but the poor 
martin, which places its earthy shed beneath the eave of the barn, the 
roof of the house, or in the corner of the house window, is more 
generally injured. July and August are the months in which these 
birds usually bring out their young, but one rainy day at this period, 
attended with wind, will often moisten the earth that composes the 
nest, the cement then fails, and all the unfledged young ones are dashed 
upon the ground ; and there are some places to which these poor birds 
are unfortunately partial, though their nests are annually washed 
down. The projecting thatch of the old farm-house appears to he their 
safest asylum. The parent birds at times seem aware of the misfortune 
that awaits them, as, before the calamity is completed, we may observe 
them with great anxiety hovering about their nests.” — Knapp. 
