I6 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



FRANKLIN'S GROUSE 

 Canachites franklini (DoiKjlas) 



\. O. U. Xumber 299 



Other Names. — Franklin's Spruce Grouse ; Fool 

 Hen; Mountain Grouse; Wood Grouse; Tyee Grouse. 



Description. — Adult Male: Size, shape, and color 

 of the Hudsonian Spruce Partridge ; tail, longer and 

 more even with broader feathers, but without terminal 

 orange bar; its upper coverts broadly tipped with pure 

 white. Adult Fem.^kle: Differs from the female Spruce 

 Partridge in having the tail-coverts white tipped and 



tail tipped with white instead of orange-brown ; other- 

 wise the birds are indistinguishable. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nesting habits, and number and 

 color of eggs are similar to those of the .Spruce 

 Partridge. 



Distribution. — Southern Alaska, central British 

 Columbia, central Alberta, south to Oregon. Idaho, and 

 Montana. 



The pojnilar name " Fool Hen " is applied to 

 the Franklin's Grouse and various other species 

 of northern Grouse, and to other species of gal- 

 linaceous game birds, who fail to act promptly 



Photo by T. H. Riggall Courtesy of Field and Stream 



FRANKLIN'S GROUSE 

 Regarding its enemy with friendly curiosity 



on the well-known fact that the average man 

 will murder them on sight. This misplaced con- 

 fidence by the Franklin's Grouse persists in a de- 

 gree which is almost incredible. Often, a flock 



of them feeding on a trail will do no more than 

 step aside as the destroyer approaches, or if they 

 actually take to their wings they will perch in 

 nearby trees, and regard their enemy with 

 friendly curiosity, declining to move even when 

 their confidence is rewarded by a volley of sticks 

 and stones. George Bird Grinnell records an 

 instance of one bird who sat quite still on a limb 

 while a man shot at him several times with a 

 rifle. The man was a bad shot but finally a 

 bullet cut a foot off the Grouse, whereupon the 

 bird simply shifted its weight to the other foot, 

 and continued to sit still until the marksman was 

 at last successfvd. Indeed it seems quite hopeless 

 that this Grouse will ever become a real game- 

 bird, which is to say, a bird who flies for his life 

 at the distant approach of man. 



The strutting of this Grouse is an elaborate 

 and rather amusing performance. It involves 

 much prancing about, during which the bird dis- 

 tends his red eyebrows until they nearly meet 

 over the crown of the head, meanwhile spreading 

 his tail to its utmost width, then closing half of 

 it on one side and half on the other, alternately, 

 these movements being accoinpanied by a sound 

 like the rustling of silk. The plumage of this 

 species resembles that of the Hudsonian Spruce 

 Partridge. 



The Franklin's Grouse was first described by 

 Lewis and Clarke in the report of their exploring 

 expedition to the Pacific coast in 1804-1806. 

 But, despite the fact that the bird has been 

 known for over a century, comparatively little 

 is known of its nesting habits. Froin the few 

 records available, these habits do not differ 

 from those of the Spruce Partridge. 



