CATALOGUE OF CANADIAN BIRDS. 221 



all through southern Labrador with stragglers well to the north. 

 Westward from Ontario it extends across the whole wooded country 

 being found in the spruce forest north of the prairie region to the 

 boundaries of the Barren Grounds. The Rocky mountain district 

 may have this species in considerable numbers, but as we have no 

 specimens from there its distribution is still uncertain. 



East of and including the coast range, an abundant resident. 

 (Fannin.) Typical birds of this sub-species as well as B. sahini 

 occur in equal numbers as well as every intergradation between 

 them in the lower Eraser valley; most of the ruffed grouse of the 

 Cariboo district are intermediate between this form and the next 

 but ultra-typical examples of each were taken in 1891. {Brooks.) 

 Common in the interior; found about thickets that border running 

 water in British Columbia. The specimens are identical with 

 those from New Brunswick. (Streator.) Common along the Chilli- 

 wack river up to Chilliwack lake, B.C., in August, 1906. (Spread, 

 borough.) 



Breeding Notes. — In the sunny weather towards the begin- 

 ning of April if there is a crust on the snow the ruffed grouse resorts 

 to the hill-sides facing the sun and the males strut about with their 

 tails spread out to their fullest extent and their wings trailing the 

 the ground like a turkey cock. If the spring be early the males 

 begin to drum and continue drumming from a month to six weeks. 

 In the meantime the females have chosen nesting sites on the ground, 

 usually at the root of a tree but sometimes under a log or beneath 

 a bush. The eggs in a nest vary from nine to thirteen. Upon 

 leaving the nest the female always covers the eggs with dry leaves. 

 In summer the young and old feed upon larvae, insects and berries, 

 and are very fond of clover. In the autumn they feed upon black 

 cherries, haws, mountain-ash berries and rose-hips. In the winter 

 they feed, in flocks of ten to twenty or more, on the buds of birch, 

 maple or ironwood, and seem to prefer the latter. During the 

 winter they feed but twice a day in cold weather. These times 

 are at dawn, indeed almost before it is light, and just as it is getting 

 dark. As soon as they have eaten their fill, they dive under the 

 snow and remain there until their next time of feeding. (Spread- 

 borough.) It breeds early, usually commencing to lay in April. 

 In April, 1897, I saw an egg as early as the 14th. Sometimes a 



