Читать книгу Neighbors with Wings and Fins and Some Others, for Young People - James Johonnot - Страница 5
ОглавлениеSCRATCHERS OF WOOD AND PRAIRIE.
1. From the story of the turkey we learn that the circle of our feathered friends extends far beyond the farm-yard or meadow. A way in wild and woody places, and over broad prairie-lands, are the partridges, pheasants, and prairie-chickens. Here they live upon the worms and bugs which they scratch from the ground. Their right name, so we learn from those who know, is grouse.
The Prairie-Hen.
2. The first of these we find in the wooded country, and it is the ruffed or ruffled grouse. In the Eastern and Middle States it is called the partridge, and in the South the pheasant. Their flesh is white, and excellent for the table. Scarcely half the size of the common hen, the ruffed grouse is so called on account of a tuft of broad, soft, glossy black feathers which it wears on either side of its neck. Its color is grayish brown, touched with pale black spots; and it wears a soft crest on its head, and behind it sweeps a broad fan-tail.
3. To call or charm its mate, to get up a fight with its rivals, or to express its good feelings, this bird has no sweet notes, like the song-birds, but it makes a noise like the beating of a drum. Standing on a log, he throws his head back like the gobbler, spreads his tail, and flaps or vibrates his wings so rapidly that the strokes can not be distinguished. This drumming is sometimes heard at the distance of half a mile.
4. The ruffed grouse is very affectionate and tender toward her young. She makes her nest in a tuft of grass, or under a bush. Here she deposits from twelve to twenty white eggs, each about a quarter of the size of a hen's egg. While she is sitting, the male stays about her to keep her company, and to defend her against enemies. The hen is so careful of her nest that she has sometimes allowed herself to be stroked by a man's hand rather than forsake her precious charge.
5. And when the little ones are hatched, the mother-grouse is wonderfully watchful and cunning in her way of protecting them. When suddenly disturbed by a human being, she gives a scream, which scatters her chicks, who hide in the grass, and keep so still that it is nearly impossible to find them. Then she runs in the opposite direction, leading the disturber to think her young are there; and to excite sympathy she flutters, and cries, and pretends to be lame.
6. A near relation of the ruffed grouse is the pinnated grouse, or the famous prairie-chicken. Many years ago it was found in nearly every part of the country, but at the present time its home is confined to the prairies of the Western States. About half the size of the common hen, it wears a small crest on its head, a tuft of long feathers on each side of its neck, runs on a pair of feathered legs, and feeds upon berries, insects, and grain. Its flesh is dark and much prized for food.
7. Spring-time is a season of great excitement in the community of prairie-hens. Early every morning the cocks fly to a battle-ground, or "scratching-ground," as it is called, where about twenty of them assemble. Then they inflate the yellow sacs that stand out on either side of the neck, and drum with their wings more loudly even than do the ruffed grouse.
8. The hens quietly gather about the edges of the ring when the fight commences. With tails erect and heads thrown back, and wings dragging on the ground, the cocks strut about like turkey-gobblers. Then they close in mortal combat. They rise in the air and strike each other, until the victor drives his antagonist from the field.
Cock of the Plains.
9. In her nest on the ground the prairie-hen lays ten or twelve brown eggs. After eighteen or nineteen days of sitting, she brings out her brood. The young are protected by her alone. Whenever they are surprised by an enemy, she utters a cry of alarm, when they scatter and scamper, and hide among the grass and brush. Then the mother, like the ruffled grouse, flutters and limps and rolls, that she may deceive and arouse sympathy.
10. The largest of American grouse is the sage-hen, or the "Cock of the Plains." The broad plains of the far West, reaching to the Rocky Mountains and the Columbia River, are its native home. It is nearly two and a half feet in length, about the size of a hen-turkey, and is covered with handsome gray and black plumage. A curious fact about this bird is that it has no gizzard. The sage-cock, like the pinnated grouse, has enormous sacs on the sides of its neck. These sacs are filled with air when he raises his tail, lowers his wings, and struts like a turkey.
11. We come home to our own little quail, or American partridge. Its reddish-brown feathers, lined with black and yellow, the white throat, and black stripes on the head of the male, and the buff throat and modest brown head of the female, we all know. The size of the bird, too, we know—so many times, in the early part of the season, have we seen the male perched on the fence, and heard his clear, sharp, musical whistle, "Bob White!" ring out upon the summer air, to attract the attention of his pretty mate.
American Quail.
12. If you listen carefully, you will detect in his whistle one soft note, and two strong or loud ones. Hence, Audubon has said his call consists of three syllables, and that he sings, "Ah! Bob! White!" The hen deposits in her nest, under a low bush, as many as twenty pure-white eggs. The cock relieves her in the task of hatching; and this is a reason why his plumage is not so gaudy as that of some male birds—that he may not attract attention to the place of the nest.
13. The young scud away almost as soon as they are out of the shell. Both parents protect and brood them. When they are frightened, they will hide under the feet of the intruder, and it is almost impossible to find them. They feed upon berries, grain, and insects; roaming over the fields of the farm and catching the insect enemies of the farmer's crops.
14. When a covey goes to sleep at night, the birds form a large circle, with their tails toward the center—each standing some distance from the others. Then they move back toward the center, until they are close to each other. Now they are prepared to watch danger on all sides.
