At these inclement seasons however they are generally lean and dry, and indeed at all times their flesh is far inferior to that of the quail or of the pinnated grouse. They are usually sold in Philadelphia market at from three-quarters of a dollar to a dollar and a quarter a pair, and sometimes higher." Audubon observes that they are brought to the market in great numbers during the winter months, and sell at from 75 cents to a dollar a-piece in the eastern cities. At Pittsburg he bought them someyears ago at 124 cents the pair. Nutta11 says, when ho wrote, that they were greatly thinned throughout the more populous panne of the Union, and that they sold In Philadelphia and Now York at from 75 oents to a dollar a-piece.
The food of the Ruffed Grouse consists commonly in the spring and fall, according to the author last quoted, of the buds of trees, the catkins of the hazel and alder, even fern-buds, acorns, and seeds of various kinds, among which he detected the capsules, lucluding the seeds, of the common small Canadian C.Istua (11clianthemodui). At times he has seen the crop almost entirely filled with the buds of the apple-tree, each connected with a portion of the twig, the wood of which appears to remain a good while undigested ; cinquefoil and strawberry leaves, buds of the Azaleas and of the broad-leaved Kalinin, with the fitimurite Partridge-Berries (Gaultheria procumbena), Ivy-Berries (Cistai hederatea), and gravel pebbles, are also some of the many articles which form the winter fare of the bird. In summer they seem often to prefer berries of various kind'', particularly dew berries, strawberries, grapes, and whortleberries.
We will now lay before the reader the modes of capturing the bird. The following is Wilson's account :— " The pheasant generally springs within a few yards, with a loud whirring noise, and flies with great vigour through the woods beyond reach of view, before it alights. With a good (log however they aro easily found ; and at some times exhibit a singular degree of infatua tion, by looking down from the branches where they sit on the dog below, who, the more noise he keeps up, seems the more to confuse and stupify them, so that they may be shot down one by one till the whole are killed, without attempting to fly off. In such cases those on the lower limbs must be taken first, for should the upper ones be first killed, in their fall they alarm those below, who immediately fly off. In deep snows they are usually taken in traps, commonly dead traps, supported by a figure 4 trigger. At this season when suddenly alarmed, they frequently dive into the snow, particularly when it is newly fallen, and coming out at n considerable distance, again take wing. They are pretty hard to kill, and will often carry off a large load to the distance of two hundred yards and drop down dead. Sometimes in the depth of winter they approach the farm-house and lurk near the barn, or about the garden. They have also been often taken young and tamed, so as to associate with fowls ; and their eggs have frequently been hatched under the common hen ; but these rarely survive until full grown. They are exceedingly fond of the seeds of grapes ; occasionally eat ants, chestnuts, blackberries, and various vegetables. Formerly they were numerous in the immediate vicinity of Philadelphia ; but as the woods were cleared and popu lation increased they retreated to the interior. At present (1812)
there are very few to be found within several miles of the city, and those only singly, in the most solitary and retired woody recesses." Audubon denies that they are ever so easily shot as stated above.
The pairing time of these birds is marked by a curious and sonorous act on the part of the male. Most of the grouse family gesticulate con siderably at this period, and some produce very peculiar vocal noises; but the Ruffed Grouse makes the woods echo with the vibrations of his wings. The following is Audubon's account of this fact :— "Early in April the ruffed grouse begins to drum immediately after dawn, and again towards the close of the day. Aa the season advances, the drumming is repeated more frequently at all hours of the day ; and where these birds are abundant this curious sound is heard from all parts of the woods in which they reside. The drum ming is performed in the following manner :—The male bird, standing erect on a prostrate decayed trunk, raises the feathers of its body in the manner of a turkey-cock, draws its head towards its tail, erecting the feathers of the latter at the same time, and raising its ruff around the neck, suffers its wings to droop, and struts about on the log. A few momenta elapse, when the bird draws the whole of its feathers close to its body, and stretching itself out, beats its sides with its wings, in the manner of the domestic cock, but more loudly, and with such rapidity of motion after a few of the first strokes, as to cause tremor in the air not unlike the rumbling of distant thunder. In perfectly calm weather it may be heard at the distance of two hundred yards, but might be supposed to proceed from a much greater distance. The female, which never drums, flies directly to the place where the male ie thus engaged, and on approaching him, opens her wings before him, balances her body to the right and left, and then receives his canapes. . . . I have shot many a fine cock by imitating the sound of its own wings striking against the body, which I did by beating a largo inflated bullock a bladder with a stick, keeping up as much as possible the same time as that in which the bird beats. At the sound produced by the bladder and the stick, the male grouse, inflamed with jealousy, has flown directly towards me, when being prepared i have easily shot it." The pairing time in April is succeeded by the uhlification in the early part of May. The root of a loud', the Aide of a fallen log, or some other sheltered nook in the thickest part of the woods, is selected by tho hen, and there she forms a rude nest of withered leaves and grass on the ground. The eggs, from nine to fifteen in number, are of a uniform dull yellowish colour, or brownish-white, and are nearly as large as those of a pullet. As noon RA the young are out of the shell they begin to run about, and are conducted by - the mother, clucking as she goes, very much like the doniestie hen. Like her too at night and in bad weather she covers her young ones beneath her wings, and in a week or ten days they begin to try their powers of flight. !ler manmurres to decoy the intruder from the spot where her young are concealed, by counterfeiting lameness and by mimicry of distress, are well known.