great superiority in numbers, and the French were driven de la Campagne de 1814.) But the odds were too many close upon the ramparts of the town. The 17th passed against him. While he by a bold movement placed himwithout fighting; on the 18th the battle was renewed, the self in the rear of the allies, the latter marched upon Paris, French divisions lost ground, and a body of 10,000 Saxons and after a hard-fought battle, 30th March, took possession left them and went over to the enemy. Napoleon now of the whole line of defence which protected that city on made his dispositions to effect his retreat towards the Rhine. the north-eastern side. The empress had left it for Blois, But while his army was filing out of Leipzig by a long and Joseph Bonaparte, after the battle of the 30th, quitted bridge, or rather a succession of bridges in the morning of Paris also. Marshal Marmont asked for an armistice, and the 19th, the allies forced their way into the town after a this led to the capitulation of Paris, which the emperor desperate resistance, and the bridge being blown up, 25,000 Alexander and the king of Prussia entered on the 31st, Frenchmen were obliged to surrender prisoners of war. amidst the loud acclamations of the Parisians. Napoleon The retreat from Leipzig was nearly as disastrous to Napo-hearing of the attack upon Paris had fallen back to the leon as that from Moscow. His army was completely dis- | relief of the capital, but it was too late. He met near organized. He was however able to fight his way at Hanau, Fontainebleau the columns of the garrison, which were 30th October, through the Bavarians, his late allies, who evacuating the city. His own generals told him that now wanted to oppose his passage. At last he reached the he ought now to abdicate, as the allied sovereigns had deRhine, and passing over the 70.000 or 80,000 men, all that clared that they would no longer treat with him. Meanremained out of an army of 350,000, with which he had time a decree of the senate declared that Napoleon Bobegun the campaign, he placed them on the left bank while naparte, in consequence of sundry arbitrary acts and he set off for Paris, where he arrived on the 9th November. violations of the constitution (which were specified and (For the particulars of this hard contested campaign of 1813, classed under various heads in the preamble to the decree), see Odeleben's narrative.) About 80,000 men left in the and by his refusing to treat with the allies upon honourPrussian garrisons Magdeburg, Danzig, Stettin, &c. sur-able conditions, had forfeited the throne and the right of rendered to the allies. inheritance established in his family, and that the people and the army of France were freed from their oath of allegiance to him. A provisional government was formed, consisting of Talleyrand, Bournonville, Dalberg, and others. Upon this, Bonaparte, after much reluctance, and upon his generals refusing to join him in a last desperate attempt upon Paris, which he meditated, signed the act of abdication at Fontainebleau on the 4th of April, 1814. In this first act there was a reservation in favour of the rights of the empress and of his son. By a second act however he renounced unconditionally' for himself and his heirs the throne of France and Italy. The emperor Alexander proposed that he should retain the title of emperor with the sovereignty of the island of Elba, and a revenue of six millions of francs to be paid by France. This was agreed to by Prussia and Austria; and England, though no party to the treaty, afterwards acceded to it. On the 20th April, Napoleon, after taking an affectionate leave of his generals and his guards, left Fontainebleau for Elba. He ran some danger from the populace in passing through Provence, but arrived safe at Frejus, where he embarked on board the British frigate the Undaunted, and on the 4th of May landed at Porto Ferrajo, in the island of Elba. (See for the history of all these transactions in France, Baron Fain, Manuscrit de 1814. See also the Narrative of Napoleon Bonaparte's Journey from Fontainebleau to Frejus in April, 1814, by Count Truchses Waldburg, attendant Prussian commissary.) Napoleon's interview on the road with Augereau, who had issued an abusive proclamation against him, and other curious particulars concerning Napoleon's conduct on his journey, are contained in the latter work. The enormous losses and reverses of the French armies, and the approach of the allies to the frontiers of France, produced a strong feeling of dissatisfaction in that country. The legislative body showed for the first time a spirit of opposition to the headlong system of Napoleon. A committee was appointed to draw up a report on the state of the nation; Raynouard, Lainé, Gallois, and other members who had a character for independence, were of the committee. The report which they laid before the legislative body 28th December, 1813, expressed a desire for peace consistent with the honour and the welfare of France, and a wish to know what steps the emperor had taken to attain so desirable an object, and it ended by saying that while the government will take the most effective measures for the safety of the country, his Majesty should be entreated to maintain and enforce the entire and constant execution of the laws which ensure to the French citizens the rights of liberty, property, and security, and to the nation the free exercise of its political rights. The legislative body by a large majority ordered the report to be printed. This was a language which Napoleon had not been used to. He immediately ordered the doors of the hall of the legislative body to be closed and guarded by soldiers, and the copies of the report to be seized at the printer's. On the 31st an imperial decree adjourned the legislative body. On the 1st of January, 1814, several members of the legislative body having appeared at his levee, he gave vent to his ill humour in a violent and coarse address, told them that they were not the representatives of the nation, but only the representatives of the individual departments; that he was the only representative of the people; that their report and the address founded upon it were seditious; that they ought not thus publicly to have commented on his conduct; and he ended by saying-France stands more in need of me than I stand in need of France.' The senate, more subservient, had already passed a decree for a new conscription of 300,000 men, including all those who had escaped the conscriptions of former years. The taxes were at the same time ordered to be doubled; but the people were weary of these never-ending sacrifices, and in many departments it was found difficult to collect either men or money. Napoleon's disposable army on the Rhine amounted to no more than from 70,000 to 80,000 men. He had to contend with twice that number, besides numerous reinforcements which were hastening through Germany. Meantime conferences were held at Chatillon, in which the allies proposed to fix the limits of France as they were in 1792, that is to say, with the exclusion of Belgium; but Napoleon would not listen to this. It was his last chance of peace. At the end of January, 1814, Napoleon began the campaign, which has been considered by tacticians as that in which he most strikingly displayed his astonishing genius for military combinations, fertility of resources, and quickness of movements. For more than two months he held at bay the various armies of the allies, now beating one corps and then flying to attack another; at times severely checked himself, and yet recovering his strength the next day. (Memoirs of the Operations of the Allied Armies in 1813-14. London, 1822, and Koch, Mémoires pour servir à l'Histoire Napoleon remained in the Island of Elba about ten months. At first he seemed reconciled to his lot, set about making roads, improving the fortifications, &c.; but after some months, he was observed to become more reserved, gloomy, and frequently absent and lost in thought. He was, in fact, at the time, engaged in secret correspondence with his friends in France and Italy. During so many years of supreme power, attended by most splendid successes, he had formed, of course, many adherents; men whose fortune was dependent on his; most of whom had lost their emoluments and prospects by his fall: the bold and aspiring, the reckless and restless, saw no further prospect of conquest and new organization of foreign states, which left at Napoleon's disposal thousands of offices and situations with which to reward his partizans. The old soldiers, to whom the camp had become a home, regretted him who used to lead them from victory to victory, affording them free quarters, a continual change of scenery, and pleasant cantonments in the finest cities of Europe. His brothers, sisters, and other relatives, all rich, some still powerful, as Murat at Naples, felt that by his fall they had lost the main prop of their family. On the other side, the restored Bourbons had committed faults, and had listened perhaps too much to the old emigrants by whom they were surrounded; and lastly, France in general had been too long in a state of violent excitement to subside at once into quiet and contented repose. Many of the subordinate agents of the police, post office, and other departments, were in Napoleon's interest. A wide conspiracy was formed the old republicans Joined the Bonapartists, and Napoleon was invited to return The Congress of Vienna was still sitting, when Talleyrand laid before them the news of Bonaparte's landing at Cannes. They immediately agreed to join again their forces, in order to frustrate his attempt, and to maintain entire the execution of the treaty of Paris, of the 30th May, 1814, made with France under the constitutional monarchy of the Bourbon dynasty. The Austrian, Russian, and Prussian armies, which had evacuated France, resumed their march towards the frontiers of that country. Napoleon found, on his return to Paris, that he could not resume the unlimited authority which he had before his abdication. The republicans and constitutionalists who had assisted, or not opposed his return, with Carnot, Fouché, Ben- | jamin Constant, and his own brother Lucien at their head, would support him only on condition of his reigning as a constitutional sovereign: he therefore proclaimed a constitution under the title of Acte additionnel aux Constitutions de Empire, which greatly resembled the charter granted by Louis XVIII. the year before. There were to be an here. ditary chamber of peers appointed by the emperor, a chamber of representatives elected by the electoral colleges, and to be renewed every five years, by which all taxes were to be voted; ministers were to be responsible; judges irremovable; the right of petition was acknowledged, and property was declared inviolable. Lastly, the French nation was made to declare, that they would never recall the Bourbons; deputies from the departments came to Paris to swear to the additional act, at the Champ de Mai, as it was called, although held on the 1st of June. The Emperor and his brothers were present at the ceremony. The chambers opened on the 4th of June, while Napoleon prepared to march towards the frontiers of Flanders, where the allied English and Prussian armies were gathering. He assembled an army of about 125,000 men, chiefly old troops, of whom 25,000 were cavalry, and 350 pieces of cannon, with which he advanced upon Charleroi on the 15th June. Ney, Soult, and Grouchy held commands under Napoleon. On the 16th Napoleon attacked in person Marshal Blücner, who was posted with 80,000 men at Ligny, and drove him back with great loss. At the same time he sent Ney against part of the English army at Quatre Bras, which, after sustaining a severe attack, retained possession of the field. In the morning of the 17th, the Duke of Wellington, in consequence of Blücher's retreat, fell back with his army to the position of Waterloo. Napoleon followed him, after dispatching, on the 17th, Grouchy, with a body of 30, 000 men, to follow the retreat of the Prussians. (Grouchy's Observations sur la Relation de la Campagne de 1815, par le General Gourgaud, Philadelphia, 1818.) On the 18th the famous battle of Waterloo took place. Napoleon's army on the field was about 75,000, and Wellington's force opposed to him consisted of 54,000 men actually engaged at Waterloo, the rest, about 16,000, being stationed near Hai, and covering the approach to Brussels on that side. There were 32,000 British soldiers, including the German Legion; the rest was composed of Belgians, Dutch, and Nassau troops. The events of the battle are well known. The French made several furious attacks with infantry and cavalry upon the British line, gained some advantages, took possession of La Haye Sainte, but all the efforts of | | their cavalry could not break the British squares. In these repeated attacks, the French cavalry was nearly destroyed. At six o'clock, Bulow's Prussian_corps appeared on the field of battle, and soon after, Blcher came in person with two more corps. Napoleon now made a last desperate effort to break the English line, before the Prussians could act: he directed his guard, which had not yet taken part in the action, to advance in two columns against the English. They were received with a tremendous fire of artillery and musketry; they attempted to deploy, but in so doing became confused, and at last gave way. Napoleon, who was following with his eye, through a spy glass, the motions of his favourite guards, turned pale and exclaimed, They are mixed together!' and galloped off the field. (See and compare the various accounts of the battle of Waterloo, by English, French, and Prussian military writers; among the rest, Captain Pringle, of the Engineers; Captain Batty; Baron Muffling, under the assumed initials of C. de W., Histoire de la Campagne de l'armée Anglaise et de l'armée Prussienne en 1815, Stutgart, 1817; Gourgaud's Narrative of the War of 1815, with Grouchy's important comments upon it; Foy, Cam pagne de 1815; Napoleon's own account in Montholon and Las Cases, and in the Memoires Historiques, published by O'Meara; Ney's Letter to the Duke of Otranto, Paris, 1815; Rogniat's account of the battle, and the account in Sir W. Scott's life of Napoleon.) The French accounts are evidently inaccurate as to several circumstances of the battle. One thing is certain, that Napoleon attacked the English repeatedly, with all his force, and was repulsed, with the loss of the flower of his troops: that after the last attack by his guards, at seven in the evening, which also failed, he had no reserve left; when the arrival of Blücher, with fresh troops on the field of battle, changed the repulse into a total defeat. The astonishing firmness of the British infantry (to which several French Generals, and Foy among the rest, have paid an eloquent tribute of praise) gained the day; Bonaparte's army fled in dreadful confusion, pursued by the Prussians, and lost cannon, baggage, and all. The loss of the English was 15,000 men in killed and wounded. On the same day, Grouchy was engaged at Wavre, thirteen miles distant, with one division of the Prussian army, which gave him full employment, while the other Prussian divisions were marching on to Waterloo. His orders were to follow the Prussians, and attack them wherever he met them. (Grouchy's Observations.) Napoleon seems to have underrated the strength of the Prussians, when he thought Grouchy's corps sufficient to keep in check the whole of their army. The battle of Waterloo finally closed a war, or rather a succession of wars, which had lasted with little interruption for twenty-three years, beginning with 1792. As to these wars, Napoleon is only strictly accountable for those that took place after he had attained supreme power in France: in some of them, such as those of Spain and of Russia, he was decidedly the aggressor. Whether he did not likewise give sufficient provocation to those which Austria, England, and Prussia waged against him, the reader must judge for himself. His determination to be the dictator, the umpire of all Europe, left no chance of national independence to any one country: had he subjected all Europe, he would have reverted to his old scheme of the conquest of the East. Even his peace establishment, supposing him ever to have been at peace, was to consist of an army of 800,000 men, besides 400,000 of reserve. (Montholon's Mémoirs of Napoleon, vol. i.) During the ten years of the empire, he raised by conscription two millions one hundred and seventythree thousand men, of whom two-thirds, at the least, perished in foreign lands, or were maimed for life. See the Memoirs of Larrey, one of the chief surgeons of his army, about this frightful waste of human lives. After the defeat of Waterloo, Napoleon having given his brother Jerome directions to rally the remains of the army, hurried back to Paris. The house of representatives declared itself permanent, and demanded his abdication. Lucien appeared before the house, and spoke eloquently of the former services of his brother, and of the claims which he had on the gratitude of France. We have followed your brother (answered Lafayette) over the sands of Africa, and through the frozen deserts of Russia; the whitened bones of Frenchmen scattered over every part of the globe bear witness to our long fidelity to him. Lucien made no impression on the assembly. He advised his brother to dissolve the cham ment. ber; Napoleon refused; It would be the signal, he said, insultingly, to that officer, and this treatment was repeated of civil war. The house of peers had adopted the same with aggravation at every subsequent opportunity. One of views as the lower house. There was but one man, it was Napoleon's great grievances was his being styled General openly stated, between France and peace. Napoleon signed Bonaparte; another, his not being allowed to stroll about his second abdication on the 22nd of June; but this time it the island unattended by a British officer. He was allowed was of his own accord, and against the advice of his inti- a space measuring eight and afterwards twelve miles in cirmate friends, Carnot, Lucien, &c. (Réponse de Lucien cumference round Longwood, through which he might range aux Mémoires de Lamarque.) The abdication was in at his pleasure; beyond these limits he was to be accomfavour of his son, Napoleon II. A provisional government was panied by an officer. But the real grievance was that of being appointed by the chambers, and they required that Napo- detained as a prisoner at all. The governor however had no leon should leave France, and embark at Rochefort for the power to remedy these subjects of complaint. Various minor United States. General Becker was appointed to escort him matters of dispute with the governor were laid hold of by to Rochefort, where he arrived on the 3rd of July. All this Bonaparte and his attendants, as if with the view of keeping did not take place, however, without many violent alter- alive an interest in the public mind in favour of the exile of cations in the chambers, and much reluctance on the part St. Helena. We cannot enter into the particulars of this of Napoleon; for which, see Hobhouse's Letters from Paris petty system of warfare, in which, as it generally happens, during the last reign of Napoleon, and Chabulon's History both parties may have occasionally been in the wrong. But of the 100 Days. The allies, who entered Paris on the 7th it is impossible to read even Napoleon's statements, made of July, refused to acknowledge Napoleon's right to abdicate through Las Cases, Santini, Antommarchi, &c., without perin favour of his son, and on the following day Louis ceiving that there was a determination on his part not to be XVIII. re-entered the capital, and resumed the govern- pleased with any thing the governor could do for him, unless he had disobeyed his orders. Napoleon's mind was in a Napoleon at Rochefort, seeing that the whole country state of irritation whenever it recurred to the subject of his around him was submitting to the Bourbons, and finding confinement, which made him querulous and peevish. He that he had no chance of escaping by sea, through the vi- seems also to have had, almost to the last, some latent gilance of the English cruisers stationed along the coast, hope of making his escape. In other respects the parsent Count Las Cases and Savary to Captain Maitland, who ticulars of his life and conversations at St. Helena are highly commanded the English ship Bellerophon, to ask for leave interesting. He could be very agreeable towards visiters to proceed to America, either in a French or a neutral who were admitted to pay their respects to him, as we may vessel; Captain Maitland replied,That his instructions see from Mr. Ellis's and Captain Hall's accounts of their forbade this, but that if Napoleon chose to proceed to interviews with him. In September, 1818, Napoleon's England, he would take him there on board the Belle- health began to be visibly affected, but he would take no rophon, without, however, entering into any promise as medicines. He also refused to ride out, as advised, beto the reception he might meet with there, as he was in cause he would not submit to the attendance of a British total ignorance of the intentions of the British government officer. In September, 1819, Dr. Antommarchi, of the Unias to his future disposal. (Captain Maitland's state- versity of Pisa, came to St. Helena as physician to Napoleon. ment of the whole transaction.) This offer was made by Two clergymen came also from Italy to act as his chapCaptain Maitland, in his second interview with Las Cases, lains. Towards the end of 1820 he grew worse, and remained on the 14th July, and Napoleon had already, the day in a weak state until the following April, when the disease before, written a letter, addressed to the Prince Regent of assumed an alarming character. It was then that BonaEngland, saying, that he came like Themistocles, to parte said that he believed it was the same disorder which claim the hospitality of the British people, and the protec- killed his father, namely a scirrhus in the pylorus; and he tion of its laws. Captain Maitland offered to dispatch desired Dr. Antommarchi to examine his stomach after General Gourgaud to England with this letter immediately, his death. He made his will, leaving large bequests to repeating at the same time to him that he was not autho- his friends and attendants (Testament de Napoleon), and rised to stipulate as to the reception of Bonaparte in Eng- on the 3d of May, 1821, the chaplain Vignali adminisland, where he must consider himself at the disposal of the tered to him extreme unction. Napoleon stated that Prince Regent. On the 15th Napoleon left Rochefort he believed in God, and was of the religion of his father: and came on board the Bellerophon with his suite: as that he was born a Catholic, and would fulfil all the duties Captain Maitland advanced to meet him on the quarter- of the Catholic church. On the 5th of May, after being deck, Napoleon said to him, I come to place myself under some time delirious, he breathed his last about eleven the protection of your Prince and your laws. On the 24th minutes before six o'clock in the evening. The following the ship entered Torbay. On the 31st of July Admiral day the body was opened by Dr. Antommarchi, in presence Lord Keith and Sir Henry Bunbury, under secretary of of several British staff and medical officers, when a large state, came on board the Bellerophon, to announce to him ulcer was found to occupy the greater part of the stomach. the final resolution of the British government, that the On the 8th May his remains were interred with military Island of St. Helena should be his future residence. Na- honours in Slane's Valley, near a fountain overhung by poleon protested against this determination, said he was not weeping willows. This had been a favourite spot with Naa prisoner of war, that he had come as a voluntary passenger poleon. The procession was followed to the grave by the on board the Bellerophon, that he wished to be allowed to governor, the admiral, Napoleon's attendants, and all the remain in England as a private citizen, &c. On the 6th of civil and military authorities. The grave was afterwards August however Napoleon frankly acknowledged to Cap-enclosed by a railing, and a sentry is kept on duty to guard tain Maitland, that he had certainly made no conditions the spot. on coming on board the Bellerophon, that he had only For the acts of Napoleon's internal administration see claimed hospitality, and that he had no reason to complain Bulletin des Lois de l'Empire and the Exposés of his minisof the Captain's conduct, which had been that of a man of ters; for the state of the finances see the various Comptes honour. On the 7th Napoleon removed from the Bellero-rendus, or report of the duke of Gaeta (Gaudin), and also phon to the Northumberland, Sir George Cockburn's flag Bresson, Histoire Financière de France; for the military inship, which was appointed to carry him to St. Helena. (For stitutions and organization of the army, see Tableau Polithe particulars of Bonaparte's voyage, his landing at St. tique et Militaire, which precedes Foy's history of the PenHelena, his residence, first at Briars and afterwards at insular war. Also Mémoires sur l Empire, by Thibaudeau, Longwood, of his altercations first with Sir G. Cockburn, which is a continuation of his Memoirs on the Consulate, and afterwards with Sir Hudson Lowe, we must refer our the duchess of Abrantes' Memoires, and the numerous readers to the minute work of Count Las Cases.) Memoirs of Napoleon's generals and ministers. landed at St. Helena on the 16th of October, 1815. He By a convention signed at Paris, 20th August, 1815, between Great Britain, Austria, Russia, and Prussia, the custody of Napoleon's person was intrusted to the British government, and commissioners were appointed by Russia, Austria, and France to reside at St. Helena to look after his safe detention. In July, 1816, General Sir Hudson Lowe arrived at St. Helena as governor of the island. From the very first interview Bonaparte behaved uncivilly, or rather BONAPARTE, NAPOLEON FRANÇOIS, son of the emperor and of Maria Louisa of Austria, was born at Paris March 20, 1811. From his birth he was styled King of Rome. After his father's first abdication in 1814 he went with his mother to Vienna, where he was brought up at the court of his grandfather, the emperor Francis, who made him duke of Reichstadt. His education was carefully attended to, and he was early trained up to the military profession. After passing through the various subor dinata grades he was made a lieutenant-colonel in June, Lower portion of the tarsus or shank and the toes naked; Swainson retains the Linnean name for the bird, and makes Tetrao the typical group of the subgenera, into which he divides the genus, expressing, however, considerable doubt on the value of the types. táry; they are seldom found in coveys of more than four ot five together, and more usually in pairs of singly. They leave their sequestered haunts in the woods early in the morning, and seek the path or road to pick up gravel, and glean among the droppings of the horses. In travelling among the mountains that bound Susquehanna, I was always able to furnish myself with an abundant supply of these birds every morning without leaving the path. If the weather be foggy or lowering, they are sure to be seen in such situations. They generally move along with great stateliness, with their broad fan like tail spread out. Audubon states that, although they are attached to the craggy sides of mountains and hills, and rocky borders of small streams, thickly mantled with evergreen trees and shrubs, they at times remove to the lowlands, and even enter the thickest cane-brakes, where they sometimes breed, and where he shot some, and heard them drumming when there were no hills nearer than fifteen or twenty miles. The lower parts of the State of Indiana, and also those of Kentucky, were amongst the places where he so discovered them. The following is his account of their autumnal migrations, which he seems to have first observed :— 'The ruffed grouse, although a constant resident in the districts which it frequents, performs partial sorties at the approach of autumn. These are not equal in extent to the peregrinations of the wild turkey, our little partridge, or the pinnated grouse, but are sufficiently so to become observable during the seasons when certain portions of the The Ruffed Grouse, Bonasia Umbellus of Bonaparte; mountainous districts which they inhabit become less abunTetrao Umbellus and Tetrao togatus of Linnæus; Tetrao dantly supplied with food than others. These partial movUmbellus of Linnaeus and Swainson, is the Shoulder-Knot ings might not be noticed, were not the birds obliged to fly Grouse of Latham; the Ruffed Heathcock or Grouse of across rivers of great breadth, as whilst in the mountain Edwards; La Gelinote hupée de Pensilvanie of Brisson; lands their groups are as numerous as those which attempt La Grosse Gélinotte de Canada and Le Coq de Bruyère à these migrations; but on the north-west banks of the Ohio fraise of Buffon; the Pheasant of the Pennsylvanians, and and Susquehanna rivers, no one who pays the least attenof the inhabitants of the southern States; the White Fleshertion to the manners and habits of our birds can fail to oband Pheasant of the Anglo-Americans generally, and the serve them. The grouse approach the banks of the Ohio in Puspusquew of the Cree Indians. parties of eight or ten, now and then of twelve or fifteen, and, on arriving there, linger in the woods close by for a week or a fortnight, as if fearful of encountering the danger to be incurred in crossing the stream. This usually happens in the beginning of October, when these birds are in the very best order for the table, and at this period great numbers of them are killed. If started from the ground, with or without the assistance of a dog, they immediately alight on the nearest trees and are easily shot. At length, however, they resolve upon crossing the river; and this they accomplish with so much ease, that I never saw any of them drop into the water. Not more than two or three days elapse, after they have reached the opposite shore, when they at once proceed to the interior of the forests in search of places congenial to the general character of their habits, They now resume their ordinary manner of living, which they continue until the approach of spring, when the males, as if leading the way, proceed singly towards the country from which they had retreated. The females follow in small parties of three or four. In the month of October, 1820, I observed a larger number of ruffed grouse migrating thus from the States of Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana into Kentucky, than I had ever before remarked. During the short period of their lingering along the north-west shore of the Ohio that season, a great number of them was killed, and they were sold in the Cincinnati market for so small a sum as 12 cents each. Audubon says that to the west of the Alleghanies, and on those mountains, the term pheasant is generally used to designate the bird; and that the same appellation is employed in the middle States to the east of the mountains, till the state of Connecticut is entered, where the name of partridge prevails. Lawson uses the term pheasant. The pheasant of Carolina differs some small matter from the English pheasant, being not so big, and having some difference in feather; yet he is not any wise inferior in delicacy, but is as good meat, or rather finer. He haunts the backwoods, and is seldom found near the inhabitants. Wilson calls it throughout 'pheasant,' except in one place, where he terms it the ' pheasant or partridge of New England.' According to the author last quoted, this bird is known in almost every quarter of the United States; is common at Moose Fort, on Hudson's Bay, in lat. 51°; frequent in the upper part of Georgia, and very abundant in Kentucky and Indiana. In the lower parts of Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, according to the same authority, it is very seldom observed, but on advancing inland to the mountains it again makes its appearance; and though it is occasionally met with in the lower parts of New Jersey, its occurrence there is considered to be owing to the more northerly situation of the country; for even here they are far less numerous than among the mountains. Captains Lewis and Clarke found it in crossing the Rocky Wilson says that the ruffed grouse is in the best order for 'The manners of the pheasant,' says Wilson,' are soli has been asserted of the flesh of the deer, when in severe weather and deep snows they subsist on the leaves and bark of the laurel. Though,' continues Wilson, 'I have myself eat freely of the flesh of the pheasant, after emptying it of Kalmia. large quantities of laurel buds, without experiencing any bad consequences, yet from the respectability of those, some of them eminent physicians, who have particularized cases in which it has proved deleterious, and even fatal, I am inclined to believe that in certain cases where this kind of food has been long continued, and the birds allowed to remain undrawn for several days, until the contents of the crop and stomach have had time to diffuse themselves through the flesh, as is too often the case, it may be un wholesome and dangerous. Great numbers of these birds are brought to our markets at all times during fall and winter, some of which are brought from a distance of more than a hundred miles, and have been probably dead a week or two, unpicked and undrawn, before they are purchased for the table. Regulations prohibiting them from being brought to market unless picked and drawn would very probably be a sufficient security from all danger. 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.' Most of our readers will remember the incident in Miss Edgeworth's admirable story of To morrow, where it is related that, in consequence of Basil's procrastination, Mr. Hudson and three gentlemen who had been dining with him were suddenly seized with convulsions after eating of a pheasant, in whose crop Basil had seen what he believed to be, and what turned out to be, the leaves of Kalmia latifolia. Audubon, however, corroborates Wilson on this point; for, though he allows that it is said that when they have fed for several weeks on the leaves of the Kalmia latifolia it is dangerous to eat their flesh, and adds his belief that laws have been passed to prevent their being sold at that season, he states that he has eaten them at all seasons; and, when he has found their crops distended with those leaves, he has never felt the least inconvenience after cating them, nor even perceived any difference of flavour in their flesh. He suspects with Wilson that it is only when the birds have been kept a long time undrawn and unplucked that the flesh becomes impregnated with the juice of these leaves. But Audubon entirely differs from Wilson in opinion with regard to the merit of these birds as food; for the former places them, in that respect, above the pinnated grouse, and prefers their flesh to that of every other land-bird in the United States, except the wild turkey when in condition. Nuttall agrees with Audubon in the praise of the flavour of the bird; and Bonaparte says of it, 'Carne bianca eccellente.' 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 some years ago at 124 cents the pair. Nuttall says that they are now greatly thinned throughout the more populous parts of the Union, and that they sell in Philadelphia and New York at from 75 cents 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, including the seeds, of the common small Canadian Cistus.* 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 broadleaved Kalmia, with the favorite partridge berries, ivy berries, 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 kinds, particularly dewberries, 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 dog, however, they are easily found; and at some times exhibit a singular degree of infatuation, 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 Helianthemum. + Gaultheria procumbens. Cissus hederaces, 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 a 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, chesnuts, blackberries, and various vegetables. Formerly they were numerous in the immediate vicinity of Philadelphia; but as the woods were cleared and population 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.' Some parts of this account are impugned by Audubon. He says, The prevailing notion which exists in almost every district where these birds are numerous, that on firing at the lowest bird perched on a tree, the next above will not fly, and that by continuing to shoot at the lowest in succession the whole may be killed, is contradicted by my experience; for on every attempt which I have made to shoot several in this manner on the same tree, my efforts have proved unsuccessful, unless indeed during a fall of snow, when I have killed three and sometimes four. Audubon adds that it is a prevalent opinion among sportsmen and naturalists, that the whirring sound produced by the birds. of this genus is a necessary effect of their usual mode of flight. But that this is an error,' he continues, I have abundantly satisfied myself by numberless observations. When this bird rises from the ground when pursued by an enemy or tracked by a dog, it produces a loud whirring sound resembling that of the whole tribe, excepting the Black Cock* of Europe, which has less of it than any other species. In fact, I do not believe that it is emitted by any species of grouse, unless when surprised and forced to rise. I have often been lying on the ground, in the woods or the fields, for hours at a time, for the express purpose of observing the movements and habits of different birds, and have frequently seen a partridge or a grouse rise on the wing from within a few yards of the spot on which I lay unobserved by them, as gently and softly as any other bird, and without producing any whirring sound." The same author speaks of the difficulty of shooting when a covey of these birds is raised from amongst laurels, or the largest species of bay, and of the necessity for having a quick eye and ready hand, without which the first chance is lost by the intercepting shrubs. The second is very uncertain; for on being sprung a second time they fly lower and dodge among the bushes so effectually that the sportsman is completely baffled. 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 considerably 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 reader will be best made acquainted with this peculiarity by the statement of eye and ear witnesses. Wilson's account is very good; but, as Audubon's is more particular, and our limits do not permit us to give both, we select the latter: Early in April,' says this indefatigable observer, the ruffed grouse begins to drum immediately after dawn, and again towards the close of day. As 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 drumming is performed in the following manner :--The male bird, standing erect on a prostrate de given among the localities (vol. iv. p. 482). The expression occurs in both In the article 'Black-cock,'' Dartmoor and Sedgmoor in Devonshire' are editions of Montagu (who resided in Devonshire) and in Selby; but there can be little doubt that Sedgemoor in Somersetshire, where the Duke of Mon mouth was defeated, is the locality intended. + Kalmia latifolia, + Rhododendron maximum, |