CANADA SPRUCE GROUSE 133 



on. He will sometimes sit with bis breast almost touching the earth, his 

 feathers erect as in strutting, and making peculiar nodding and circular 

 motions of the head from side to side ; he Will remain in this position two or 

 three minutes at a time. He is a most beautiful bird, and he shows by his 

 fictions that he is perfectly aware of the fact. 



Nesting. — The nesting habits of this grouse are not essentially 

 different from those of its more northern relative. Brewster (1925) 

 records a nest found by Aldana Brooks near Richardson Lake, Me., 

 " where the land was low and wooded with black ash, birch, alder, 

 and a few larches. It was sunk, he said, in the top of a little mound 

 with no rock, log, or even tree-trunk very near it. There were nine 

 eggs. The bird did not leave them until almost stepped on, when 

 she fluttered off over the ground for a few yards, and then stopped 

 to watch Brooks who finally continued on his way without molest- 

 ing her, or taking any of the eggs, w 7 hich he never saw again.'' 



Watson L. Bishop (1890), who was succeeded in domesticating 

 this bird, says : 



As the nesting season approaches I prepare suitable places for them by 

 placing spruce boughs in such a way as to form cozy little shelters, where 

 the birds will be pretty well concealed from view. I then gather up some 

 old dry leaves and grass and scatter it about on the ground near where I 

 have prepared a place for the nest. She will then select one of these places, 

 and, after scratching a deep, cup-shaped place in the ground, deposit in it her 

 eggs ; * * * if there should be sufficient material within easy reach of 

 the nest the bird will sometimes cover the eggs up, but not in all cases. 



No nesting material is taken to the nest until after three or four eggs are 

 laid. After this number has been deposited, the hen, after laying an egg, 

 and while leaving the nest, will pick up straw, grass, and leaves, or whatever 

 suitable material is at hand, and will throw it backward over her back as 

 she leaves the nest, and by the time the set is complete, quite a quantity of 

 this litter is collected about the nest. She will then sit in her nest and reach 

 out and gather in the nesting material and place it about her, and when com- 

 pleted the nest is very deep and nicely bordered with grass and leaves. 



So strong is the habit, or instinct, of throwing the nesting materials over 

 the back, that they will frequently throw it away from the nest, instead of 

 toward it, as the hen will sometimes follow a trail of material that will turn 

 her " right about " so that her head is toward the nest, but all the time she will 

 continue to throw what she picks up over her back. This, of course, is throw- 

 ing the material away from the nest. Discovering her mistake, she will then 

 " right about face " and pick up the same material that an instant before was 

 being thrown away, and throw it over her back again toward the nest. 



E99 s - — The eggs of the Canada spruce grouse are indistinguishable 

 from those of the Hudsonian race, already described. The measure- 

 ments of 53 eggs average 43.2 by 31.1 millimeters ; the eggs showing 

 the four extremes measure 47.5 by 31.5, 46.5 by 32.5, 39.9 by 31, and 

 40.4 by 29 millimeters. 



Food. — On dissecting some young birds shot on a meadow, on Sep- 

 tember 11, Brewster (1925) " found in their crops very many grass- 

 74564—32 10 



