Jan. 1889.] 



AiSD OOLOGIST. 



9 



to terra firma myself, which I reached in a 

 very unceremonious manner. I hart not calcu- 

 lated rightly upon the weij^ht of my rope and 

 the result was that when I liad got witliin 

 about thirty feet or more of the ground the 

 rope broke of its own weight. Luckily for me 

 the cliff was of sandstone and the rains and 

 .snows of year.s had washed the sand off so 

 that, instead of striking a rocky flat bottom, I 

 found myself suddenly shot from the high 

 sandy bank (upon wliicli I sat so hard) out 

 nearly at right angles witli the cliff, and after 

 performing many unheard of acrobatic per- 

 formances, I finally dro^jped softly (?) into a 

 pile of rocks, and knew — nothing. Clear 

 Creek was not far away, and my friend soon 

 brought me to ray senses, and I awoke to see 

 my young eagles "lariated" out to stakes, 

 while Jim, my companion, was busy rubbing 

 my wrists and performing all the things known 

 by him to bring a person stunned to their 

 sen.ses. Every bt)ne in my body was sore, but 

 none broken, and after several weeks I was 

 once more on my feet. However, I lost the 

 best of the collecting season that year, and I 

 seldom climb a high tree or ledge that I do 

 not think of two young eagles and a sand- 

 stone cliff', in Clear Creek Canyon. 

 (To 1)6 continued.) 



Charlex F. Morrif<n)i. 



Nesting of the Canada Grouse in 

 Captivity. 



As it is almost impossible to find eggs of the 

 (Canada Grfuise {Canare ran((ilf)t.'<is) in their na- 

 tive haunts, and being determined to obtain 

 some, I concluded to overcome the difficulty 

 by capturing and domesticating some of these 

 birds. With this idea I built an enclosure 

 about thirty feet square, and of sufficient 

 height to allow me to walk about inside of it. 

 I built this of strips of boards three inches in 

 width, with two-inch spaces between them for 

 the admission of light. Having cut spruce 

 tree-tops, I placed them in different parts of 

 the enclosure, which gave it the appearance of 

 a natural forest, and also served the birds for 

 roosting jjlaces. These spruces I renewed 

 from time to time to keep them fresh. 



I placed birds in this enclosure as rapidly as 

 I could obtain them, but for a long time they 

 died so fast that I, at any one time, never pos- 

 sessed more than four. I have lost, in this 

 way, twelve or fifteen birds. 



These birds are found scattered through the 



central ridge of tlie province rmining east 

 and west. They are confined to this region 

 for two reasons, first, because in this out of the 

 way district they are niore out of the reach of 

 hunters, and second because the nature of 

 the bird renders this lonely region the most 

 suitable abode for them. 



I imagine that their absence from the haunts 

 of the Ruffed Orouse (Bonaan innhellus) is to be 

 accounted for by their extraordinary tameness 

 — a tameness which precludes the possibility 

 of escape from extermination in even moder- 

 ately populated districts. In fact, they have 

 been exterminated, except in i^laces which are 

 not frequented to any great extent by the 

 sportsman. 



The manner of their capture is as follows: 

 One who knows their haunts and is familiar 

 with their habits takes a slim pole, from twelve 

 to fourteen feet in length, to the end of this 

 pole he attaches a snare made of soft twine. 

 Armed with this weapon, he ai)i)roaches the 

 bird who is probably perched on a spruce 

 limb; slowly and cautiously, step by step, he 

 advances, holding the pole ready; the bird 

 eyes him curiously; nearer and nearer the 

 noose approaches; suddeidy, with an almost 

 imperceptible movement, the fatal noose de- 

 scends over the head of the doomed victim; 

 a slight jerk, and the captive is brought strug- 

 gling and fiuttering to the ground. The noose 

 is then loosened from its neck, and the captive 

 is deposited in a covered basket carried for 

 the purpose. 



The operation I have described is a delicate 

 one, and requires good judgment and careful 

 management. It is not every one who starts 

 out with a pole and noose who brings back his 

 bird, for the least awkwardness or abrupt 

 movement, or a little mismanagement, and the 

 bird is gone. And, in this case, as he cleaves 

 the air with rapid pinion, distance fails to lend 

 enchantment to the view. 



These rapidly recurring deaths taught me 

 that if I was going to succeed it was necessary 

 for me to ascertain, by a careful examination, 

 what conditions were necessary to the health 

 of the birds, what was their proper food, etc. 

 I began to examine and study the contents of 

 the crops of birds sent to me to be mounted. 

 In this way, and by introducing different 

 varieties of food, I leanied what was most suit- 

 able for them, and so completely was I success- 

 ful that for the last ten months I have not lost 

 a single bird. In fact, they are in better con- 

 dition than the wild ones, having now (Aug. 

 4) almost completed their new suits, while 



