considerable height on trees, but they generally prefer resting on the
ground. I observed that for several nights in succession, many of these
Grous slept in a meadow not far distant from my house. This piece of
ground was thickly covered with tall grass, and one dark night I thought
of amusing myself by trying to catch them. I had a large seine, and took
with me several Negroes supplied with lanterns and long poles, with the
latter of which they bore the net completely off the ground. We entered
the meadow in the early part of the night, although it was so dark that
without a light one could hardly have seen an object a yard distant, and
spreading out the leaded end of the net, carried the other end forward
by means of the poles at the height of a few feet. I had marked before
dark a place in which a great number of the birds had alighted, and now
ordered my men to proceed towards it. As the net passed over the first
Grous in the way, the alarmed bird flew directly towards the confining
part of the angle, and almost at the same moment a great number of others
arose, and, with much noise, followed the same direction. At a signal,
the poles were laid flat on the ground, and we secured the prisoners,
bagging some dozens. Repeating our experiment three times in succession,
we met with equal success, but now we gave up the sport on account of the
loud bursts of laughter from the Negroes, who could no longer refrain.
Leaving the net on the ground, we returned to the house laden with spoil,
but next evening not a Grous was to be found in the meadow, although I
am confident that several hundreds had escaped.
On the ground the Pinnated Grous exhibits none of the elegance of manner
observed in the Ruffed Grous, but walks more like the Common Hen, although
in a more erect attitude. If surprised, it rises at once with a moderate
whirring sound of the wings; but if it happens to see you at a distance,
and the place is clear, it instantly runs off with considerable speed,
and stops at the first tuft of high grass or bunch of briar, when it
squats, and remains until put up. In newly ploughed grounds I have
seen them run with all their might, their wings partially expanded,
until suddenly meeting with a large clod, they would stop, squat, and
disappear in a moment. During the noontide hours, several may often be
seen dusting themselves near each other, either on the ploughed fields
or the dry sandy roads, and rearranging their feathers in a moment, in
the same manner as the Wild Turkey. Like the Common Fowls, they watch
each other's motions, and if one has discovered a grasshopper, and is
about to chase it, all the rest within sight of it either fly or run up
to the place. When the mother of a brood is found with her young ones,
she instantly ruffles up her feathers, and often looks as if she would
fly at you; but this she never ventures to do, although she tries every
art to decoy you from the place. On large branches of trees these birds
walk with great ease, but on small ones they require the aid of their
wings to enable them to walk steadily. They usually, if not always, roost
singly within a few feet of each other, and on such little eminences as
the ground affords. I have found them invariably fronting the wind, or
the quarter from which it was to blow. It is only during the early age
of the young birds that they at on the ground in a circle.
The flight of the Prairie Hen is strong, regular, tolerably swift, and at
times protracted to the distance of several miles. The whirring of its
wings is less conspicuous than that of the Ruffed Grous or "Pheasant"
(_Tetrao umbellus_), and its flight is less rapid. It moves through
the air with frequent beats, after which it sails with the wings bent
downwards, balancing itself for a hundred yards or more, as if to
watch the movements of its pursuer, for at this time they can easily
be observed to look behind them as they proceed. They never rise when
disturbed without uttering four or five distinct clucks, although at
other times they fly off in silence. They are easily shot down by a
calm sportsman, but are very apt to deceive a young hand. In the western
country they rarely stand before the pointer, and I think the setter is
a more profitable dog there. In the Eastern States, however, pointers,
as I am informed, are principally employed. These birds rarely wait the
approach of the sportsman, but often rise when he is at such a distance
as to render it necessary for him to be very prompt in firing. Unlike
other species, they seldom pass over you, even when you surprise them,
and if the country is wooded, they frequently alight on the highest
branches of the tallest trees, where they are usually more accessible.
If shot almost dead, they fall and turn round on the ground with great
violence until life is extinct; but when less injured, they run with
great celerity to some secluded place, where they remain so quiet and
silent as to render it difficult to find them without a good dog. Their
flesh is dark, and resembles that of the Red Grous of Scotland, or the
Spotted Grous of North America.
The curious notes emitted in the love season are peculiar to the male.
When the receptacles of air, which in form, colour, and size, resemble
a small orange, are perfectly inflated, the bird lowers its head to the
ground, opens its bill, and sends forth, as it were, the air contained in
these bladders in distinctly separated notes, rolling one after another
from loud to low, and producing a sound like that of a large muffled drum.
This done, the bird immediately erects itself, refills its receptacles by
inhalation, and again proceeds with its tootings. I frequently observed in
those Prairie Hens which I had tamed at Henderson, that after producing
the noise, the bags lost their rotundity, and assumed the appearance of
a burst bladder, but that in a few seconds they were again inflated.
Having caught one of the birds, I passed the point of a pin through
each of its air-cells, the consequence of which was, that it was unable
to toot any more. With another bird I performed the same operation on
one only of the cells, and next morning it tooted with the sound one,
although not so loudly as before, but could not inflate the one which
had been punctured. The sound, in my opinion, cannot be heard at a much
greater distance than a mile. All my endeavours to decoy this species,
by imitating its curious sounds, were unsuccessful, although the Ruffed
Grous is easily deceived in this manner. As soon as the strutting and
fighting are over, the collapsed bladders are concealed by the feathers
of the ruff, and during autumn and winter are much reduced in size. These
birds, indeed, seldom, if ever, meet in groups on the scratching grounds
after incubation has taken place; at all events, I have never seen them
fight after that period, for, like the Wild Turkeys, after spending a
few weeks apart to recover their strength, they gradually unite, and as
soon as the young are grown up, individuals of both sexes mix with the
latter, and continue in company till spring. The young males exhibit the
bladders, and elongated feathers of the neck before the first winter,
and by the next spring have attained maturity, although, as in many
other species, they increase in size and beauty for several years.
As I have never shot these birds in the Eastern States, and therefore
cannot speak from experience of the sport which they afford, I here
introduce a very interesting letter from a well known sportsman, my
friend DAVID ECKLEIY, Esq., residing at Boston, who is in the habit of
shooting them annually.
"Dear Sir,—I have the pleasure of sending you a brace of Grous from
Martha's Vineyard, one of the Elizabeth Islands, which for many years past
I have been accustomed to visit annually, for the purpose of enjoying
the sport of shooting these fine birds. Nashawenna is the only other
island of the group on which they are found. This, however, is a sort
of preserve, as the island being small and the birds few, strangers are
not permitted to shoot without the consent of the owners of the soil. It
would be difficult to assign a reason why they are found upon the islands
above named, and not upon others, particularly Nashann, which, being
large, well wooded, and abounding in feed, seems quite as favourable to
the peculiar habits of the birds.
"Fifteen or twenty years ago, I know from my own experience, it was a
common thing to see as many birds in a day as we now see in a week; but
whilst they have grown scarcer, our knowledge of the ground has become
more extended, so that the result of a few weeks' residence of a party
of three, with which I usually take the field, is ten brace of birds.
Packs of twenty to fifty are now no longer seen, and the numbers have so
diminished, in consequence of a more general knowledge of their value,
the price in Boston market being five dollars per brace, that we rarely
see of late more than ten or twelve collected together. It is often
observed, however, that there is very little encouragement to be derived
from the circumstance of falling in with a large number, and that the
greater the pack, the more likely they are to elude the vigilance of the
sportsman; though it must be acknowledged that it is a most exhilarating
yet tantalizing sight, to start a large pack out of gunshot. To watch
them as their wings glisten in the sun, alternately sailing, fluttering,
and scooming over the undulating ground, apparently just about alighting,
but exerting their strength and fluttering on once more, some old stager
of the pack leading them beyond an intervening swell, out of harm's
way, beyond which all is conjecture as to the extent or the direction
of their flight. In such a case, it is best to follow on as quick and as
straight as possible, keeping the eye fixed upon the tree or bush, which
served to mark them, and after having proceeded a reasonable distance
in the direction which they have flown, if a "clear" or "cutting place"
should lie in the course, the birds may be confidently expected to have
alighted there. They never in fact settle down where the woods are thick,
or the bushes close and tangled, but invariably in some open space, and
often in the roads; neither do they start from thick foliage or briary
places, but seek at once to disengage themselves from all embarrassment
to their flight, by attaining the nearest open space, thus offering to
the sportsman the fairest mark of all game birds. It frequently happens
that not one is killed on the first flight of a pack, as they are often
very unexpectedly started, but on approaching them a second time with
greater caution, success is more likely to follow, particularly if they
have become scattered.
"Towards the middle of November, they have attained their average
weight of nearly two pounds each; and nothing can be fuller, richer, or
more game-like than their plumage. At this time of year, however, in
sportsman's phrase, they will seldom "lie to the dog," but are easily
started by every sound they hear. Even loud talking alarms them; for which
reason, a high wind, which drowns the approach of danger, is the most
desirable weather. A calm drizzly day is also favourable; for the birds
being less likely to be disturbed by the glare of objects, venture into
the old rye fields, the low edges of the wood, and the bushy pastures,
to feed.
"It is seldom that we start a bird a second time in the exact spot where
he has been seen to hover down, for no sooner do they alight than they
run, and frequently into thick cover, from which they often attempt in
vain to disentangle themselves. A dog is then necessary to scent the
bird, which alternately runs and squats, until, being hard pressed, it
rises, and frequently with a sound which resembles the syllables _coo,
coo, coo_, uttered with rapidity. One good dog is better than two, and
though sufficient, is absolutely necessary, for besides the enjoyment of
observing his action generally, his challenging cheers, and his pointing
prepare you. But more than all, a dog is required in recovering those
which are winged or not fatally wounded, which, but for his tracking
them, would be entirely lost.
"The barberry, which abounds in many parts of Martha's Vineyard, is the
principal food of the Grouse, particularly such as grow on low bushes,
near the ground, and easily reached by the birds. They also feed on the
boxberry or partridgeberry, the highland and lowland cranberry, rosebuds,
pine and alder buds, acorns, &c. In summer, when young, they feed on
the more succulent berries.
"We frequently meet with the remains of such as have been destroyed in
various ways, but more particularly by the domestic cat, which prowls
the woods in a wild state, and which often receives a very unwelcome
salute for the mischief it does. Owls, hawks, and skunks also do their
part towards the destruction of these valuable but defenceless birds.
In these ways they are thinned off much more effectually than by the
sportsman's gun. They frequent no particular soil, and like all other
hunting, wherever the feed is, there is the likeliest place for the game.
In addition to this rule as a guide, we look for their fresh tracks among
the sandy barberry hillocks, and along the numerous paths which intersect
that remarkable part of the Vineyard called Tisbury Plain. Into this,
should the birds fly from the edges, as they sometimes do, it is almost
impossible to start them a second time, as there are no trees or large
objects to mark their flight. Being mostly covered with scrub oaks of a
uniform height, with occasional mossy hollows, it affords them a place
of refuge, into which they fly for protection, but from which they soon
emerge, when the danger is past, to their more favourite haunts.
"I have only seen them in the month of November, but I am told that
in the spring of the year, previous to the season of incubation, they
congregate in large companies, in particular places, where they hold
a grand tournament, fighting with great desperation, and doing one
another all the mischief possible. In these chosen spots, it is said
the cunning natives were accustomed to strew ashes, and rush upon them
with sticks when blinded by the dust which they had raised. In later
times, the custom of baiting them has proved more destructive to the
species. In this way, very great but very unsportsman-like shots have
often been made. Another practice has been that of stealing upon them
unawares, guided by that peculiar sound for which they are remarkable in
the spring of the year, called "tooting." By these and other means, to
which I have adverted, the birds were diminishing in numbers from year
to year; but it is to be hoped that they will revive again, as they are
now protected by an act of the State of Massachusetts, passed in 1831,
which limits the time of shooting them to the months of November and
December, and imposes a penalty of ten dollars each bird for all that
are killed, except in those two months.
"BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, _December 6. 1832_."
In the western country, at the approach of winter, these birds frequent
the tops of the sumach bushes, to feed on their seeds, often in such
numbers that I have seen them bent by their weight; and I have counted
more than fifty on a single apple tree, the buds of which they entirely
destroyed in a few hours. They also alight on high forest trees on the
margins of large rivers, such as the Mississippi, to eat grapes, and the
berries and leaves of the parasitical mistletoe. During several weeks
which I spent on the banks of the Mississippi, above the mouth of the
Ohio, I often observed flocks of them flying to and fro across the broad
stream, alighting at once on the highest trees with as much ease as any
other bird. They were then so abundant that the Indians, with whom I was
in company, killed them with arrows whenever they chanced to alight on
the ground or low bushes.
During the sowing season, their visits to the wheat and corn fields are
productive of considerable damage. They are fond of grasshoppers, and
pursue these insects as chickens are wont to do, sometimes to a distance
of thirty or forty yards. They drink water like the common fowl when at
liberty, and, like all other species of this family, are fond of dusting
themselves in the paths, or among the earth of the fields.
I have often observed them carry their tail in the manner of the Common
Hen. During the first years of my residence at Henderson, in severe
winters, the number of Grous of this species was greatly augmented by
large flocks of them that evidently came from Indiana, Illinois, and even
from the western side of the Mississippi. They retired at the approach
of spring, no doubt to escape from the persecution of man.
It would not perhaps be proper that I should speak of the value put on the
flesh of these birds by epicures. All that I shall say is, that I never
thought much of it, and would at any time prefer a piece of buffalo or
bear flesh; so that I have no reason to regret my inability to purchase
Prairie Hens for eating at five dollars the pair.
TETRAO CUPIDO, _Linn._ Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 274.—_Lath._ Ind.
Ornith. vol. ii. p. 638.—_Ch. Bonaparte_, Synops. of Birds of
the United States, p. 126.
PINNATED GROUS, TETRAO CUPIDO, _Wils._ Amer. Ornith. vol. iii.
p. 104. pl. 27. fig. 1. Male.—_Nuttall_, Manual, part i. p.
Adult Male. Plate CLXXXVI. Fig. 1, 2.
Bill short, robust; upper mandible with the dorsal outline curved, the
edges overlapping, the tip declinate and rounded; lower mandible convex,
broad, with the tip rounded. Nostrils basal, roundish, concealed by the
feathers. Head small, neck rather long, body bulky. Feet of ordinary
length; tarsus short, feathered; toes covered above with numerous short
scutella, marginated and pectinated; hind toe extremely short, two lateral
equal, middle toe much longer; claws of ordinary length, strong, arched,
rather obtuse, concave beneath.
Plumage compact, the feathers generally broad and rounded; those of
the head and neck narrow, and proportionally shorter, excepting those
of the crown, which are elongated. Two tufts of lanceolate, elongated
feathers on the sides of the neck, under which is an oblong bare space on
either side capable of being inflated. Lower tibial and tarsal feathers
short, soft and blended. Wings short and curved, the primaries strong
and narrow; fourth longest, third and fifth nearly equal, second longer
than sixth, first much shorter. Tail very short, much rounded, sloping
on both sides, of eighteen broad rounded feathers.
Bill dusky, paler beneath. Iris brown. Toes dull yellow, claws
greyish-brown, the general colour of the upper parts is blackish-brown,
transversely marked with broad undulating bands of light yellowish-red,
the wing-coverts and secondaries of a lighter brown tinged with grey,
and barred with paler red, the latter only on the outer webs; primary
quills greyish-brown, with black shafts, and spots of pale reddish on the
outer webs, excepting towards the end. Tail dark greyish-brown, narrowly
tipped with dull white, the two middle feathers mottled with brownish-red.
Space from the bill to the eye, a band from the lower mandible over the
cheek and the throat, pale yellowish-red or cream-colour; a band of
blackish-brown under the eye, including the ear-coverts, and another
about an inch and a half long on the side of the throat. Supra-ocular
membrane scarlet; bare skin of the sounding-bladder dusky orange. The
long feathers of the cervical tufts are dark brown on the outer webs,
pale yellowish-red and margined with dusky on the inner, excepting the
lowest, which are all brownish-black. The lower parts are marked with
large transverse curved bands of greyish-brown and pale yellowish-grey,
the tints deeper on the anterior parts and under the wings. Under
tail-coverts arranged in three sets, the middle feathers convex, involute,
white, with two concealed brown spots; the lateral larger, of the same
form, abrupt, variegated with dusky, red, and white, the extremity of
the latter colour, but with a very narrow terminal margin of black. The
tibial and tarsal feathers are grey, obscurely and minutely banded with
yellowish-brown.
Length 18 inches, extent of wings 27½; bill along the back 7/12, along
the edge 11/12; tarsus 1½; weight 1 lb. 13 oz.
Adult Female. Plate CLXXXVI Fig. 3.
The female is considerably smaller, and wants the crest, cervical tufts
and air-bags; but in other respects resembles the male.
THE TIGER LILY.
LILIUM SUPERBUM, _Willd._ Sp. Pl. vol. ii. p. 88. _Pursh_,
Fl. Amer. Sept. vol. i. p. 280.—HEXANDRIA MONOGYNIA,
_Linn._—LILIACEÆ, _Juss._
This beautiful plant, which grows in swamps and moist copses, in the
Northern and Eastern States, as far as Virginia, as well as in the
western prairies, attains a height for four or five feet, and makes
a splendid appearance with its numerous large drooping flowers, which
sometimes amount to twenty or even thirty on a single stem. The leaves
are linear-lanceolate, three-nerved, smooth, the lower verticillate,
the upper scattered. The flowers are orange-yellow, spotted with black
on their upper surface, the petals revolute. I was forced to reduce the
stem, in order to introduce it into my drawing, the back ground of which
is an attempt to represent our original western meadows.
THE BOAT-TAILED GRAKLE OR GREAT CROW BLACKBIRD.
_QUISCALUS MAJOR_, VIEILL.
PLATE CLXXXVII. MALE AND FEMALE.
This elegant bird is an inhabitant of the Southern States, to the
maritime portions of which it is more particularly attached. Indeed,
it seldom goes farther inland than forty or fifty miles, and even then
follows the swampy margins of large rivers, as the Mississippi, the
Santee, the St John's, and the Savannah. It is found in Lower Louisiana,
but never ascends so far as the city of Natchez, and it abounds in the
south-eastern low grounds of the Floridas, and in those of Georgia and
South Carolina, as well as in the sea islands of the Atlantic coasts,
as far north as Carolina, beyond which none are to be seen.
The Boat-tailed Grakles are gregarious at all seasons of the year, and
frequently assemble in very large flocks, which, however, cannot be
compared with those of the Purple Grakle, or of the Red-winged Starling.
They seek for their food amid the large salt marshes, and along their
muddy shores, and throw themselves into the rice plantations as soon
as the grain is fit for being eaten by them. In autumn they resort not
unfrequently to corn fields, and the ploughed lands of the plantations,
interspersed with ponds or marshy places, retiring towards evening
to the salt marshes, where they roost in immense flocks amid the tall
marsh grass (_Spartina glabra_), from which their cries are heard until
darkness comes on.
The food of this species consists principally of those small crabs called
"fiddlers," of which millions are found along the margins of the rivers
and mud-flats, as well as of large insects of all kinds, ground-worms,
and seeds, especially grain. They frequently seize on shrimps, and other
aquatic animals of a similar nature, that have been detained at low water
on the banks of racoon oysters, a kind of shell-fish so named under the
idea that they are eaten by that quadruped. In autumn, while the rice
is yet in the stack, they commit considerable mischief by feeding on
the grain, although not so much as when it is in a juicy state, when
the planters are obliged to employ persons to chase them from the fields.
About the beginning of February, the males have already mated, and
many begin their nest at this early season. It is then that you ought
to see the Boat-tailed Grakle, for at that period its plumage displays
the richest gloss, and its tail, which, after the breeding season, is
no longer navicular, is deeply incurved towards the centre. Proud of
his elegant form and splendid plumage, he alights on the topmost branch
of some evergreen oak, droops his wings and tail, swells his breast,
and glittering in the bright rays of the sun, which call forth all the
variations of tint for which his silken plumes are remarkable, pours
forth his loud though not always agreeable song. He watches his rivals
as they pass, pursues them with ardent courage, returns to his stand
exulting, and again pours forth his song.