Birds of the Boix Fort Indian Reservation. 237 



In the blueberry season both species come out in the open and 

 feed on berries. 



The meat of the spruce hen is darker than that of the 

 grouse and has less flavor. There are thousands of each species 

 on the reservation. They do not migrate, but bury themselves 

 in the snow and remain all winter. 



The spruce hen is very tame and easily killed. The writer 

 has seen them sit on a limb and never move when shot at till 

 probably the third or fourth shot would bring them down. He 

 has also known a flock of them to get just out of the road and 

 sit in the open and let a team pass them. Also once while mak- 

 ing a trip with an Indian policeman, Peter Mesabe, from the 

 agency to Ash lake, they came upon a spruce hen in the trail. 

 Mr. Mesabe motioned to stop, that he wished to catch the hen. 

 The Avriter wondered how he was going to do it, as they had no 

 hunting accouterments with them. Mr. Mesabe approached the 

 bird slowly, and when he got nearly to it, probably sixteen feet 

 of it, it flew into a nearby cedar tree and perched itself on 

 one of the lower limbs. Mr. Mesabe then squatted in the trail 

 and took out one of the shoestrings from his leg-boots and tied it, 

 in snare style, on the end of a stick some four or five feet in 

 length. He then went, in bent form, in easy and careful strides 

 toward the tree till he got under the bird. Then he slowly 

 pushed the stick up by the side of the bird till the shoestring 

 noose was open and directly over the bird's head. With a quick 

 move he got the bird's head in the noose and with another quick 

 jerk he brought the strangling bird down. The party had spruce 

 hen for dinner that day. 



305. Tympunuvlnis americavvs (Reich.). Prairie Hen. A few strays 

 of this species were killed in the region in 1913. They are 

 residents farther south, according to report. 



3086. Pedioecestes phasianellua campestris Ridgw. Prairie Sharp- 

 tailed Grouse. Both in the falls of 1912 and 1913 a few birds of 

 this species were killed on the reservation. They were found in 

 the open areas, and it is believed by the Indians that the ex- 

 cessive hunting in the prairie regions of Minnesota, the Dakotas 

 and in Manitoba is driving them into the wooded districts. 



^'16. Zenaidura macroura (Linn.) . Mourning Dove. A common summer 

 resident. 



325. Cathartes aura (Linn.). Turkey Vulture. The writer saw several 

 birds feeding at different times; also many soaring about over 

 the region. 



332. Accipiter velox (Wils.). Sharp-shinned Hawk. 



334. Accipiter articapiU-ufi (Wils.). American Goshawk. 



Z47a. Archibuteo lagopus sancti-johannis (Gmel.). Rough-legged Hawk. 



349. Aquila clirysaetos (Linn.). Golden Eagle. Not common, but seen 

 soaring over the region now and then. A stuffed skin of a speci- 

 men killed near Ely, Minn., is to be found at John Shafer's 

 establishment in that city. 



