TETRAONID.E: GROUSE. 



733 



(Ad. nat. 



tail more narrowly orange-brown, and most of the tail irregularly barred or mottled with 

 buff, these markings tending to disappear with age. Pullets resemble tlie hen. Chicks in 

 the down are buff, more brownish above and 

 yellowish below, variegated with black spots 

 and stripes on the head and rump ; they resem- 

 ble young Ptarmigan, but the toes are bare. 

 N. Am., E. of the Rocky Mountains, northerly, 

 in woodland ; N. nearly or quite to limit of 

 trees; N. W. to tlie Pacific in Alaska; S. into 

 the northern tier of States, especially Maine, 

 Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota; casually 

 to Massachusetts, more commonly to northern 

 New York. It is a very hardy bird, enduring 



the rigors of sub-arctic winters, not properly Fig. 493. — Canada Grouse, nat. size. 



migratory, and breeds throughout its regular e . . .) 



range. It is especially a bird of coniferous woods, as spruce groves and tamarack swamps; 



its food is mainly buds, leaves, and berries of many different kinds. The cocks begin to strut 



and drum early in the spring, and the hens lay in May and June. Eggs numerous, 9-16, 



usually about a dozen, 



averaging ].(>8 X 1-25, 

 though some run up to 

 1 .90 in length ; they are 

 rather pointed, buff-col- 

 ored, dotted, spotted, 

 and boldly splashed with 

 ricli cliestnut, and darker 

 l)ro\vn ; the markings 

 rarely obsolete. Shape 

 and pattern of eggs 

 more like those of Ptar- 

 migan than of the prai- 

 rie Grouse. Canace 

 canadensis of former edi- 

 tions of the Key. Den- 

 drugapus (canachites) 

 canadensis, A. 0. U. 

 J 886 - 95. Canachites 

 canadensis, A. 0. U. 

 Suppl. List, Auk, Jan. 

 1899, p. 107, N... >J98. 

 C. c. 1 ab ratio ri us. 

 (Lat. (if Labrador.) 

 Labradou Sprltce 

 Grouse. Like true 

 canadensis ; $ in suin- 

 iiuT witli heavier wliite 

 markiuiTs <'U umlor 

 parts, and purt'r gray 



(From "Game Birdu of North America," by D. G. 



Flo. 494. — Fraiiklin'H Grouse. 

 Elliot.) 



markings <>m iippcr p:nt.s : 9 in suinnier naicli niorc purely black, gray, and white, with little 



buff or ochraconus. Hamilton Inlet, north, ru Liibrador. 15an<;.s, Pr. N. Engl. Zool. Club, i, 



June 5, ]8J>9, p. 47; Auk, Oct. lr<9!>, p. .'UO. 



