3-008-585 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Prairie Grouse in the Zoological Society's Gardens, Regent's Park, [London], 1862. 'A consignment of eighteen specimens of the prairie grouse of North America (Tetzao umbellus), lately received in this country by Mr. Stone, has been deposited by that gentleman in the gardens of the Zoological Society...those who are interested in natural history should not lose the opportunity of paying a visit...and of witnessing the extraordinary exhibition made by these males at this time of the year. On approaching the inclosure...a mournful note is heard, somewhat resembling a kind of moan, which Wilson, the American ornithologist, has called "touting, from its resemblance to the blowing of a conch or horn from a remote quarter."...When the male bird is excited the neck-plumes are completely reversed in their position, standing up over the head and joining together so as to form a sort of pointed crest. The play is also accompanied by a sort of knocking, which sounds like the stamping of the bird's feet, but is really produced internally. The large air-receptacles on each side of the neck are always inflated when the touting is made, and stand out like two orange-coloured drums, giving the bird a very singular appearance'. From "Illustrated London News", 1862.