OF NORTH AMERICA. 103 
variegated white and tawny, waved with 
blackish. There is a red comb over the eye. 
Length about 16 inches. Extent 22 inches. 
There is a slightly differing variety in the 
Northwest. The habitat of this bird is the 
northern part of the continent, south into the 
northern border of the United States. 
Although a very handsome bird, it is little 
sought for by sportsmen, since its flesh, 
though sometimes not bad, is generally so 
impregnated with the flavor of the spruce 
buds upon which it feeds, as to render it 
utterly uneatable. And it affords but little 
sport, for it is so stupid as to allow the 
approach of man within a few yards, and is 
even taken with a slip-noose on the end of a 
pole. 
I saw three of these birds breeding in cap- 
tivity at Kentville, N.S., and I believe that 
their owner, Mr. Bishop, enjoys the unique 
honor of being the only person who has suc- 
ceeded in their domestication. 
116. RUFFED GROUSE. 
PARTRIDGE, PHEASANT. 
Bonasa umbellus. 
Prevailing color variegated grayish-brown 
(in some specimens shading into a reddish- 
brown with bronze lustre). Whitish below, 
barred with brown. 
The male has a ruffle of glossy black 
feathers about the sides of the neck, which in 
