Page:Ornithological biography, or an account of the habits of the birds of the United States of America, vol 2.djvu/564



Although I have not seen this beautiful bird within the Htnits of the United States, I feel assured that it exists in the State of Maine, as well as in the northern districts bordering on the great lakes. Theodore Lincoln, Esq. of Dennisville in Maine, shot seven one day, not many miles from that village ; and the hunter who guided me to the breeding grounds of the Canada Grous, assured me, that he also knew where the " Red-necked Partridge" was to be found. The places which he described as frequented by them, seemed to bear as near a resemblance to those in which I found the species in Labrador and Newfoundland, as the differ- ence of latitude and vegetation could admit. I have also seen several skins of individuals that were killed near Lake Michigan.

The Willow Grous differs in its habits from the Canada Grous in se- veral remarkable circumstances. In the first place, neither myself nor any of my party ever found the former solitary or single. The males were always in the immediate vicinity of the nest while the females were sitting, and accompanied them and the young, from the time the latter were hatched until they were full-grown ; and whenever we met with them, we observed that the males and the females manifested the strongest attach- ment towards each other, as well as towards their young. In fact, so much was this the case, that when a covey happened to come in our way, the parents would fly directly towards us with so much boldness, that some were actually killed on the wing with the rods of our guns, as they flew about in the agonies of rage and despair, with all their feathers raised and rufHed. In the mean time, the little ones dispersed and made off through the deep moss and tangled creeping plants with great rapidity, squatting and keeping close to the ground, when it became extremely difficult to find them. This is the only American species of Grous I am acquainted with that possesses these habits ; in all others found in the United States, the male not only leaves the female as soon as incubation has commenced, but both fly from man and urge their young to do the same from their earliest age.