_Tetrao umbellus_, LINN. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 275, 6.—WILSON, Am.
Orn. VI, 1812, 46, pl. xlix.—DOUGHTY, Cab. N. H. I, 1830, 13, pl.
ii.—AUD. Orn. Biog. I, 1831, 211; V, 560, pl. xli.—IB. Birds Amer. V,
1842, 72, pl. ccxciii. _Tetrao (Bonasia) umbellus_, BONAP. Syn. 1828,
126.—IB. Mon. _Tetrao_, Am. Phil. Trans. III, 1830, 389.—NUTTALL,
Man. I, 1832, 657. _Bonasa umbellus_, STEPHENS, Shaw, Gen. Zoöl. XI,
1824, 300.—BONAP. Comptes Rendus, XLV, 1857, 428.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am.
1858, 630.—ELLIOT, Monog. Tetr. pl.—GRAY, Cat. Brit. Mus. V, 1867, 89.
_Tetrao togatus_, LINN. I, 1766, 275, 8.—FORSTER, Philos. Trans. LXII,
1772, 393. _Tetrao tympanus_, BARTRAM, Travels in E. Florida, 1791,
290. _Ruffed Grouse_, and _Shoulder-knot Grouse_, PENNANT & LATHAM.
[Illustration: =32312= ½ ⅓
_Bonasa umbellus._]
SP. CHAR. Above ochraceous-brown, finely mottled with grayish; the
scapulars and wing-coverts with pale shaft-streaks, the rump and
upper tail-coverts with medial cordate spots of pale grayish. Tail
ochraceous-rufous, narrowly barred with black, crossed terminally with
a narrow band of pale ash, then a broader one of black, this preceded
by another ashy one. (In specimens from the Alleghany Mountains and
New England States, the tail usually more or less grayish to the base,
sometimes entirely destitute of rufous tinge.) Throat and foreneck
ochraceous. Lower parts white (ochraceous beneath the surface), with
broad transverse bars of dilute brown, these mostly concealed on the
abdomen. Lower tail-coverts pale ochraceous, each with a terminal
deltoid spot of white, bordered with dusky. Neck-tufts brownish-black.
Length, 18.00; wing, 7.20; tail, 7.00. _Female_ smaller, and with
the neck-tufts less developed, but colors similar. _Young_ (39,161,
St. Stephen’s, N. B.; G. A. Boardman). Brown above, and dingy-white
beneath; a rufous tinge on the scapulars. Feathers of the jugulum,
back, scapulars, and wing-coverts with broad medial streaks of light
ochraceous, and black spots on the webs; jugulum with a strong buff
tinge. Secondaries and wing-coverts strongly mottled transversely.
Head dingy buff, the upper part more rusty; a post-ocular or auricular
dusky patch, and a tuft of dusky feathers on the vertex. _Chick._ Above
light rufous, beneath rusty-white; uniform above and below; a dusky
post-ocular streak, inclining downwards across the auriculars. Bill
whitish.
HAB. Eastern Province of North America; in the northeastern portions
(New England, Labrador) and Alleghany Mountains inclining toward var.
_umbellus_ in having a gray tail.
[Illustration: _Bonasa umbellus._]
HABITS. This well-known bird—the common Birch Partridge of the British
Provinces, the Partridge of New England and the West, and the Pheasant
of the Middle States—is found throughout the wooded portions of eastern
North America, from Georgia to Nova Scotia, and from the Atlantic to
the Rocky Mountains. Richardson, in his description of its habits in
the _Fauna Boreali-Americana_, states that he met with it as far north
as the 56th parallel of latitude, and mentions, in a note, that Mr.
Drummond procured specimens on the sources of the Peace River, in the
valley of the Rocky Mountains, in no wise different from those taken
on the Saskatchewan. On the banks of the latter river it was found
very plentiful, frequenting the horse-paths and the cleared spaces
about the forts. In winter, when the ground was covered with snow, it
occurred in flocks of ten or twelve, perching on trees. These flocks
could be approached without difficulty, and several birds successively
shot from the same tree without exciting the alarm of the survivors, if
the lowest were shot first. When disturbed, like most Grouse they flew
off very swiftly, with a loud whirring sound, and to a considerable
distance before alighting. The male in spring makes a very singular loud
noise, resembling the quick roll of a drum, which is produced by rapid
strokes of the wings, and which may be heard to quite a distance. In the
mating-season the male struts about in the presence of the female, in
the manner of a Turkey-cock, its wings drooping, its tail erected, and
its ruffs displayed.
This Grouse is a constant resident in the district in which it occurs,
and, as a general rule, is in no sense migratory, though it is stated
by Audubon that in some regions where they are very abundant they
perform partial sorties at the approach of autumn. These only occur
in mountainous regions in which during the winter months there is an
insufficiency of food. These movements have been noticed on the banks
of the Ohio and the Susquehanna Rivers. Their journeys occur in the
month of October, when they are in the best condition for the table,
and they are much sought after. In the spring, those which have escaped
return to the regions from which they migrated. Mr. Audubon states that
in October, 1820, he observed a large number moving from the States of
Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois into Kentucky, many of which were shot, and
taken to the Cincinnati market.
This Grouse is found wherever wooded country is to be met with, and
is especially fond of the craggy sides of mountains and hills, and
the borders of rivers and small streams. They also often occur in
considerable numbers in low lands, and were discovered by Mr. Audubon
breeding in the thickest cane-brakes of Indiana and Kentucky.
They find in these wooded regions at once the means of food and shelter.
In these localities they breed, and there they may usually be seen at
all seasons of the year. They are thus to be met with in nearly all
the Southern States, being abundant in the Carolinas, in Kentucky,
Tennessee, and Mississippi, as far to the southwest as Natchez. They
are not known to occur in any part of Louisiana. Dr. Newberry did not
encounter this bird within the limits of California, but found them very
abundant in the wooded portions of the Cascade Mountains and in the
Willamette Valley. The Oregon specimens were generally darker than the
eastern varieties, but the habits were apparently everywhere the same.
In many important respects the habits of this bird appear to be
essentially different from those of the Pinnated Grouse. Unlike that
species, it is rarely met with on open plains. Though the food of the
two species appears to be very similar, this peculiarity and difference
of abode is quite striking. This is more noticeable at the South than in
the more northern and western portions of the country, where, however,
this species seems to seek, and the _cupido_ to avoid, the wooded
sections.
They differ, also, in their more solitary disposition, being never
seen in groups of more than four or five, and rarely other than singly
or in pairs. Wilson observed, while travelling among the mountains of
Pennsylvania, that these birds left the woods early in the morning to
seek the open path or road to pick up gravel or to glean among the
droppings of the horses, and he was thus enabled to supply himself
without leaving the path. On the ground they were observed to move with
great stateliness, spreading out their broad fan-like tails.
The flight of this Grouse is low, straightforward, and rarely protracted
more than a few hundred yards at a time. It is somewhat stiff, and
performed with frequent, almost continual, beatings of its wings. When
it is flushed from its nest, or is suddenly startled from the ground by
a dog, it rises with a loud whirring sound, which noise, however, is
not made when the bird rises of its own accord. Its movements on the
ground are very stately and graceful, except when it is approached too
near, when it runs in a rapid manner, lowers its head, and spreads its
tail, and either seeks shelter or takes to flight. When it hides in the
bushes, it usually squats and remains close. They are difficult birds
to shoot on the wing, the more so that they make sudden and unexpected
changes in the direction of their flight. When they light on a tree,
they are more readily followed and shot. The prevalent notion that,
where several of these birds are in the same tree, several may be
procured if you are careful to shoot the lowest one each time, was not
verified by Mr. Audubon’s experience.
The love-season of the Partridge commences early in March, and is
indicated by the drumming of male birds. This sound is produced by the
male bird only, who, standing on a fallen log or on an elevated rock
in the most retired portion of the woods, lowers his wings, expands
his tail, contracts his neck, and seems to inflate his whole body. The
tufts of feathers on either side of the neck are elevated, and the
bird struts and wheels about in the most pompous manner possible to
imagine. After manœuvring in this manner for some time, he begins to
strike the sides of his own body with his stiffened wings with short and
rapid strokes. These become more and more rapid, until the noise they
produce seems continuous. These sounds may be heard at all hours of the
day, but more generally early in the morning. The sound thus produced
has generally been compared to that produced by beating together two
distended bladders. But this gives one a very inadequate idea of the
rolling, reverberating, ventriloquistic noise which these birds thus
occasion. It is more like the distant and closing reverberations caused
by remote thunder, and seems to the listener much nearer than it really
is. It may be imitated in several ways, so as even to deceive the bird,
and to bring him, in a fatal impulse of jealousy, to the shot of the
sportsman.
In the spring these birds feed on the buds of several kinds of trees,
especially the birches. In Maine they are particularly fond of the buds
of the black birch, which gives to their flesh a peculiar and very
agreeable flavor, and from this in certain localities they are known as
the Birch Partridge. They also feed largely on the esculent berries of
the summer, as raspberries, blueberries, and huckleberries, and in the
fall become plump and fat, and are esteemed a great delicacy.
Mr. Audubon states that, as this bird rises from the ground, it utters
a cackling note, which it repeats six or seven times, and then emits
a lisping whistle, like the cry of some young bird, which is rather
remarkable. When the ground is covered by a fall of light snow, these
birds dive into it and conceal themselves, sometimes burrowing through
it to the depth of several feet. When pursued, they frequently escape in
this manner. Many are taken under the snow; others are snared by nooses,
or by means of figure of four traps.
This Grouse is more or less polygamous, and both sexes are somewhat
promiscuous in their intercourse. The males only remain with the females
until incubation has commenced, and then keep by themselves, unless
recalled by the females when their eggs have been taken or destroyed.
The males occasionally indulge in severe contests for the possession of
the female, but not to the same extent as with the Pinnated Grouse.
The female places her nest in some retired spot, usually on the edge of
the woods, or near an opening in it, always on the ground, and often
under the shelter of a projecting rock or a fallen log. The nest is very
rude and simple, consisting of only a few leaves laid in a depression
and not woven together. The eggs are from seven to twelve in number, and
are generally of a uniform yellowish-brown color, and are very rarely
mottled or spotted. During incubation the Partridge sits very closely,
and permits a near approach before she will leave her charge. The young
Partridges leave the nest as soon as they are hatched, following their
mother, who calls to them with a clucking sound not unlike that of the
common domestic Hen. The mother is very devoted, courageous, and wily
in defending them. Coming suddenly upon a young brood of Partridges
squatted with their mother near the roadside in a woods, my first
knowledge of their presence was received from the old bird flying
directly at my face, and then tumbling about at my feet with frantic
manifestations of distress and imitated lameness. In the mean while the
little ones scattered in every direction, and were not to be found. As
soon as she was satisfied of their safety, the parent flew to a short
distance, and I soon heard her clucking call to them to come to her
again. Altogether, it was one of the most striking scenes of parental
devotion and well-managed intervention I ever witnessed. When I came
upon the mother, she had squatted upon the ground, and the young had
taken refuge under her wings.
The males keep apart from the females and the young until the approach
of winter, when they reassemble in their search for food. In severe
seasons, when the snow lies very deep, especially in Pennsylvania, they
are said to feed on the buds of the Mountain Laurel, or some other
poisonous shrub which imparts a poisonous character to their flesh.
In Maine they have been accused of resorting to apple-orchards and
destroying the fruit-buds, thus occasionally causing a serious injury to
the prospective harvest. We apprehend there is some foundation for these
charges.
Mr. William Street, of Easthampton, who resides on Mount Tom, writes
me that he has found this Grouse very numerous in that vicinity.
Having lived in a secluded place ten years, and having met with these
birds constantly by day and by night, he has been able to note some
interesting peculiarities in their habits. The drumming by the male is
often made on a stone as well as a log, the same perch being resorted
to, when once chosen by a male bird, as long as it lives. In one
instance he knew one of these Partridges persistently adhere to its
drumming-place, even though the woods had all been cut away and a new
road made close by its post. They roost on the ground as well as on
trees, when near their home, and just where night overtakes them. They
can fly by night as well as by day, when disturbed, as he has often had
occasion to notice, having started them up at all hours of the night.
They are very local in their habits, and never wander more than a
hundred rods from the drumming-place of the male. This spot seems to be
the central point around which they live. The young keep with the old
birds throughout the fall and winter, and select their own homes in the
spring, not far from those of their parents. When a flock is started up,
they separate and fly in every direction; but if one sits quietly down
and keeps perfectly still, in less than an hour he will see them all
coming back, on foot, and all at about the same time.
The eggs of this species measure 1.60 inches in length by 1.15 in
breadth. They are usually unspotted and of a uniform dark cream-color,
occasionally marked with darker blotches of the same. They are of an
elongated oval, pointed at one end.
Bonasa umbellus, var. umbelloides, DOUGLAS.