

THE OTTAWA NATURALIST 



VOL. XXIII. OTTAWA, FEBRUARY, 1910 No. 11 



EVERYDAY ORNITHOLOGY. 



By Normax Criddle, Treesbank, Man. 



The following notes are made up simply of observations 

 recorded in my note book at Aweme, Man., supplemented with 

 additional remarks to make the whole appear less disjointed 

 and more complete in detail. They are mere extracts' from a 

 mass of material covering a period of four years, commencing in 

 1906. They are given in the original form, not only because 

 that saves labor, but chiefly because it gives them the appear- 

 ance of having been made in the field, which is indeed the case. 



1906. 



January 10. It seems remarkable that |5artridges (Ruffed 

 Grouse) should have a preference for certain clumps of trees 

 upon which they make their evening meal by eating the buds, 

 but such is the case. Not only do they return to the same locality 

 week after week throughout the winter months, but the same 

 clumps seem to be selected year after year. 



About one hundred yards from the farm buildings there 

 is a bluff which contains a few hundred trees, all aspens of 

 medium size, with smaller ones and hazel brush beneath. 

 The larger trees are those selected, and every evening shortly 

 after sunset five or six partridges appear, sometimes flying from 

 a considerable distance. About the same number turned up 

 last year, and also the previous winter. That they are gradually 

 stripping the trees of their buds and consequently preventing 

 the grov/th of leaves there is no doubt, but fortunately they 

 confine themselves largely to those buds that in the course of 

 time would produce catkins, so that the injury is not as great as 

 might be suspected, though it is very evident when the leaves 

 appear. During the day these birds content themselves with 

 eating hazel catkins, rose-berries and such other fruits as appear 

 above the snow. Consequently aspens and other poplars only 

 suffer once in 24 hours. 



