Britain, are the different species of Grous, Partridges, and Quails. Of these, the Grous are inhabitants chiefly of bleak and mountainous tracts of country. To defend them from the effects of cold, their legs are feathered down to the toes. The nostrils are small, and are hidden under the feathers. Their legs are stout, and the tail generally long. Partridges and Quails inhabit the warmer and more cultivated parts of the country. Their tail is short, and their nostrils are covered with a hard prominent margin.

THE RUFFED GROUS

The Ruffed Grous has hitherto been found only on the New Continent. He is a fine bird when his gaiety is displayed; that is, when he spreads his tail like that of a turkey-cock, and erects the circle of feathers round his neck like a ruff, walking with a stately and even pace, and making a noise somewhat like that of a turkey. This is the moment which the sportsman seizes to fire at him; for, if the bird observes that he is

species have a naked scarlet skin above each eye. The flesh of all the species is brown, but is excellent food.

*See Plate xv. Fig. 8.

DESCRIPTION. The size of this bird is between that of a pheasant and partridge. The bill is brownish. The head is crested; and, as well as all the upper parts, is variegated with different tints of brown mixed with black. The feathers on the neck are long and loose; and may be erected at pleasure, like those of the cock. The throat and the fore part of the neck are orange brown: and the rest of the under parts are yellowish white, having a few curved marks on the breast and sides. The tail consists of eighteen feathers; all of which are crossed with narrow bars of black, and with one broad band of the same near the end. The legs are covered to the toes (which are flesh-coloured, and pectinated on the sides) with whitish hairs.

SYNONYMS. Tetrao umbellus. Linn.-Coq de bruyère à fraise. Buffon.-Ruffed Heathcock. Edwards.

discovered, he immediately flies off to the distance of several hundred yards before he again alights.

There is something very remarkable in what is called the thumping of these birds. This they do, as the sportsmen tell us, by clapping their wings against their sides. They stand upon an old fallen tree, and in this station begin their strokes gradually, at about two seconds of time from one another, and repeat them quicker and quicker, until they make a noise not unlike distant thunder. This continues, from the beginning, about a minute; the bird ceases for six or eight minutes, and then begins again. The sound is often heard at the distance of nearly half a mile; and sportsmen take advantage of this note, to discover the birds, and shoot them. The Grous commonly practise their thumping during the spring and fall of the year; at about nine or ten o'clock in the morning, and four or five in the afternoon.

This

Mr. Brooke, of Maryland in North America, informs us that these birds lay their eggs, from twelve to sixteen in number, in nests which they make either by the side of fallen trees, or the roots of standing ones. gentleman, when a boy, says that he has found their nests, and has endeavoured to take the old birds, but never could succeed. The sitting bird would let him put his hand almost upon her before she would quit her nest; then by artifice would draw him off from her eggs, by fluttering just before him for a hundred paces or more, so that he has been in constant hopes of taking her. When the nestlings are hatched, and a few days old, they hide themselves so artfully among the leaves, that it is difficult to find them.

THE BLACK GROUS*.

In the northern parts of England these birds were

* DESCRIPTION. The weight of an old black cock is nearly

formerly to be seen in great numbers, but of late years they have become very scarce. This is owing to various causes; but principally to the great improvement in the art of shooting flying, and to the enclosure of waste lands. Some few are yet found in Wales; and in particular parts of the New Forest in Hampshire they are in tolerable plenty, being preserved as royal game, and being always excepted in the warrants to kill game there. They are partial to mountainous and woody situations, far removed from the habitations of men.

Their food is various; but principally consists of the mountain fruits and berries, and, in winter, of the tops of heath. It is somewhat remarkable that cherries and peas are fatal to these birds. They perch and roost in the same manner as the pheasant.

The Black Grous never pair; but in the spring the males assemble at their accustomed resorts on the tops of heathy mountains, where they crow and clap their wings. The females, at this signal, resort to them. The males are very quarrelsome, and fight together like game-cocks. On these occasions they are so inattentive to their own safety, that two or three have sometimes been killed at one shot; and instances have occurred of their having been knocked down with a stick.

four pounds; but that of the female is not often more than two. The plumage of the whole body of the male is black, and glossed over the neck and rump with a shining blue. The coverts of the wings are of a dusky brown: the four first quillfeathers are black, the next white at the bottom. The lower half, and the tips, of the secondary feathers, are white. The inner coverts of the wings are white. The tail is much forked: the exterior feathers bend greatly outward, and their ends seem as if cut off. The colours of the female differ consi derably from those of the male: the tail also is but slightly forked.

SYNONYMS. Tetrao tetrix. Linnæus.-Heath-cock, Black Game, or Grous. Willughby.-Black Cock. Pennant-Bew. p. 298,

Birds, vol. i.

The female forms an artless nest on the ground; and lays six or eight eggs, of a dull yellowish white colour, marked with numerous very small ferruginous specks, and, towards the smaller end, with some blotches of the These are hatched late in the summer. The young males quit the parents in the beginning of winter, and keep together in flocks of seven or eight till the spring.

same.

Black Grous will live and thrive in menageries, but they have not been known to breed in a state of confinement. In Sweden, however, a spurious breed has sometimes been produced with the domestic hen.

In Russia, Norway, and other extreme northern countries, the Black Grous are said to retire under the snow during winter. The shooting of them in Russia is thus conducted:-Huts full of loop-holes, like little forts, are built for the purpose, in woods frequented by these birds. Upon the trees within shot of the huts, are placed artificial decoy-birds. As the Grous assemble, the company fire through the openings; and so long as the sportsmen are concealed, the report of guns does not frighten the birds away. Several of them may therefore be killed from the same tree, when three or four happen to be perched on branches one above another. The sportsman has only to shoot the undermost bird first, and the others upward in succession. The uppermost bird is earnestly employed in looking down after his fallen companions, and keeps chattering to them till he becomes himself a victim.

During winter the inhabitants of Siberia take these birds in the following manner :-A number of poles are laid horizontally on forked sticks, in the open birch forests. Small bundles of corn are tied on these, by way of allurement; and, at a little distance, some tall baskets of conical shape are placed, having their broad part uppermost. Within the mouth of each basket is placed a small wheel; through which passes an axis so nicely fixed, as to admit it to play very readily, and, on the least touch either on one side or the other, to drop

down, and again recover its situation. The Black Grous are soon attracted by the corn on the horizontal poles. The first comers alight upon them, and after a short repast fly to the baskets, and attempt to settle on their tops; when the wheel drops sideways, and they fall headlong into the trap. These baskets are sometimes found half-full of birds thus caught.

THE RED GROUS, OR RED GAME*.

The heathy and mountainous parts of the northern counties of England are in general well stocked with Red Grous. These birds are likewise very common in Wales, and the Highlands of Scotland; but they have not yet been observed in any of the countries of the Continent.

In winter they are usually found in flocks of sometimes forty or fifty in number, which are termed by sportsmen packs, and become remarkably shy and wild. They keep near the summits of the heathy hills, and seldom descend to the lower grounds. Here they feed on the mountain-berries, and on the tender tops of the heath.

They pair in spring; and the females lay from six to ten eggs, in a rude nest formed on the ground. The young brood (which during the first year are called poults) follow the hen till the approach of winter; when they unite, with several others, into packs.

Red Grous have been known to breed in confine

DESCRIPTION. The weight of the male is about nineteen and of the female fifteen ounces. The bill is black; and at the base of the lower mandible there is on each side a white spot. Each eye is arched with a large, naked, scarlet spot. The throat is red. The plumage of the upper parts of the body is mottled with dusky red and black. The breast and belly are purplish, crossed with small dusky lines.

SYNONYMS.

Tetrao Scoticus. Linn. Gmel.-Gorcock, or Moorcock. Willughby.-Moor-fowl, in Scotland.-Bew. Birds, vol. i. p. 301.