294 Tlie Spruce Partridge or Canada Grouse, 



her plumage, and uttered a tender maternal chuck, when the little- 

 ones took to their wings, altliough they were, I can venture to 

 assert, not more than one week old^ with so much ease and de- 

 light, that I felt highly pleased at having allowed them to escape. 



Two days afterwards, my youthful and industrious party re- 

 turned to the Ripley with a pair of these Grouse in moult. This 

 species undergoes that severe trial at a much earlier season than 

 the Willow Ptarmigan. My son reported that some young ones 

 which he saw with their mother were able to fly fully a hundred 

 yards, and alighted on the low trees, among which he caught sev- 

 eral of them, which, however, died before he reached the vessel. 



This species is found not only in the State of Maine, but also in 

 the mountainous districts of New Hampshire, and the northern 

 parts of New York, as well as around our northern great lakes, 

 and the head waters of the Missouri. It is abundant in the Bri- 

 tish Provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland 

 and Labrador. 



Among the great number, procured at all seasons of the year, 

 which I have examined, I never found one without the rufous band 

 at the extremity of the tail, represented in the plate ; nor did I 

 see any having the terminal white spot on the upper tail-coverts 

 exhibited in figures of this species. 



Their food consists of berries of difierent sorts, and the young 

 twigs and blossoms of several species of plants. In the summer 

 and autumn I have found them gorged with the berries of the 

 plant represented in the plate, and which is commonly called 

 " Solomon's Seal." In the winter I have seen the crop filled with 

 the short leaves of the larch or hackmetack. 



I have frequently heard it said that these birds could be 

 knocked down with sticks, or that a whole covev could be shot 

 while perched on trees, by beginning at the lowest one ; but I 

 have never witnessed any thing of the kind, and therefore cannot 

 vouch for the truth of the assertion. Durins: the autumn of 1833, 

 these birds were uncommonly abundant in the State of Maine. 

 My friend Edward Harris, of New York, Thomas Lincoln, and 

 others, killed a great number ; and the last mentioned gentleman 

 procured a pair alive, which were fed on oats and did well. 



The flesh of this Grouse is dark, and fit for being eaten only 

 when it has fed on berries. In winter, when it feeds on the leaves 

 of trees and other plants, the flesh is quite bitter and disagreeable^. 



