CHAPTER XVIII.

RUFFED GROUSE, OR PHEASANT.

THIS is the bird called partridge in the Eastern States, and pheasant in the middle, southern, and western. It is a beautiful bird, nearly as heavy as the pinnated grouse, and is found, in more or less abundance, from Hudson's Bay to the Rocky Mountains. Unlike its congener, which is fond of open prairie grounds, the ruffed grouse seeks the thickest covers, mountainous regions, or hill sides. It is particularly fond of grounds covered with the balsam pine, hemlock, or laurel; is a very shy bird, and on this account difficult to shoot. Its favourite food is the same as that of the pinnated grouse; but its flesh is white, while that of the latter is black. During the severe snows of winter it feeds upon the tender buds of the alder and laurel, and of the apple tree, if orchards are in its vicinity. It will also feed upon the wild grape, particularly the small kind, called the chicken grape. It is in the best order for the table in September and October; but in the middle of winter, when its food is limited, its flesh is said, after it has fed some time on the buds of the laurel, to partake of the

poisonous qualities of this plant, and to become a dangerous food. This is a common opinion in relation to the flesh of this bird; but I must confess that I have no personal knowledge of any bad effects from eating it at any season, nor have I ever met with any one who had.

It is a bird of some sagacity, and when overtaken in an open wood will allow a person to pass close to it; and when at a distance of ten to fifteen feet, will suddenly dart off in an opposite direction. And I have known it, when come upon, to dart off, and keep a tree between itself and the gunner until too far off to get a shot at it. This fact has been mentioned to me by others, and I am inclined to think it more than accident, not that I mean to say the bird is aware of the gun and its effects, but that it considers its safety to consist in keeping itself out of sight.

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It is extremely difficult to get it to endure the point of a dog. He must approach with great caution, and be satisfied when within twenty feet. An old dog is the the best for this game. In September, however, when the young, though well grown, are yet with the hen, they will lay well. On these accounts, and the thick cover they generally resort to, few of them are shot with the usual game-dog, and the greater number brought to market are either taken in traps or shot when budding or eating grapes, by gunners lying in wait for them, or by the aid of a small barking dog, (King Charles or the cocking spaniel, or springer) that will tree them. The time they choose for eating buds or grapes is about daylight or after sundown. Those acquainted with the haunts of this bird seek out their places and shoot them as they arrive, which is usually one at a time. Though

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ruffed grOUSE, OR PHEASANT.

sagacious in some respects, they are singularly stupid in others. Instances have been known of persons shooting several from the same tree, though all were there when the first was shot, by beginning with the one on the lowest limb, so that it would not disturb the others by its falling. It is a solitary bird, and after the young are weaned is seldom found in coveys.

It pairs in April and builds its nest in May, choosing a place on the ground, sheltered by the root of a bush or by an old log. The nest is made of dry leaves and grass. It lays from ten to fifteen eggs, nearly as large as those of a pullet; and the young leave the nest as soon as hatched, guided by their mother, who clucks to them like the common hen.

A celebrated naturalist has remarked, that solitary animals cannot be completely tamed, which I believe holds good with this bird, as I have never known an instance of one being domesticated, or seeking shelter in the habitations of man during the severest winters, which the quail will frequently do. But I once saw one of these birds in a cage, which fed well, and would admit the approach of one's hand without showing much uneasiness. Their eggs have been hatched under the common hen, but the young have in all cases, (within my knowledge,) taken advantage of the first opportunity to escape and abandon their foster-mother.

They are very fond of the steep declivities, thickly covered with evergreens, which so frequently characterize the banks of our running streams, and are also found abundantly in the heavy evergreen thickets, which so often cover our flat land streams. They lie in these grounds in numbers, but generally some feet apart, so

that but one is flushed at a time. But to find them in numbers, these grounds must be unfrequented and distant from habitations; and when the thicket is narrow, which is frequently the case, each side occupied by one or two sportsmen having well-trained dogs, very fine sport may be made on them.

CHAPTER XIX.

THE QUAIL OR PARTRIDGE.

THIS interesting game-bird is found all over our country, and in Canada and Nova Scotia. It is said to be migratory, and that it passes in winter from the Northern and Eastern States, and the cold regions of the Alleghany Mountains, to the sea-coast of the Southern and Middle States, and into the peninsula of Florida. It is not found in great numbers east of the Hudson and north of the Mohawk, but is extremely abundant in the Middle, Southern, and Western States. In a walk with dog and gun, of a mile to a mile and a half in Burlington county, New Jersey, I have frequently flushed from ten to fifteen coveys; and in the bottom-lands of the Potomac, above tide-water, I have found them so abundant as really to distract the attention of both dog and sportsman. I am informed that they are equally abundant below. They appear to congregate in such places from the more barren high grounds of the vicinity. I have also found them very abundant in the stubble-fields of the lower part of the Chesapeake and its tributaries. I once spent the months of November and December in the neighbourhood of Mobjack Bay, and found the fields there so well supplied with them, that hunting of them