52 Lli'ii HlSTOlilES OF NOKTH AMliLilGAN ElKDS. 



weatlior ni this season may influence the pairuig' of this species tor two or 

 three weeks hiter. The males exercise much iutrig-ue to secure the oljject of 

 their choice for the season, aUhough I have reason to susjjcct that some of 

 these birds retain their niafe for mure than one season, as I lia\e frequently 

 found a pair together in the depth of winter, these two Ijeing the only ones of 

 the kind to be found in the vicinity. 



"Laying begins about the 5th of June, and incul)iition about the 12th. 

 The young are hatched in aljout seventeen days. Young birds aljout five days 

 old were obtained June 2H, and others, able to fly, were secured July 10. 

 Through the exertions of Miss Lizisie Ford I was enabled to secure two sets 

 of eggs of this si)ecies. The nest consisted merely of a few stalks and blades 

 of grass, loosely arranged among the moss of a higher s})ot, under the drooping 

 limbs of a spruce, situated in a swamp. A few feathers from the parent bird 

 were also in tlie nest. Tlie number of eggs in this nest was seven, all quite 

 fresh. A second set, also of seven eggs', was tbund in a sinular situation, and 

 near the location of the nest previously described. 



"The food of the Spruce Partridge consists of the tender terminal Imds of 

 the spruce, and in winter this seems to be their only food. In a great num- 

 ber of Ijirds examined during that season this was the only substance found 

 in their gizzards, mixed at times with an astonishing quantity of gravel. 1 

 was surprised to find these stones of such uniformity of size and material. 

 Crystallized quartz fragments, in certain instances, formed alone the triturating 

 sulistance, and rarely were there fragments of granite or other stones. In fact 

 many of the birds had not a discolored stone in their gizzard. In the spring 

 and summer months these birds consume (luantities of berries of Emp'Armn and 

 VacciniaDiy 



Mr. J. W. Banks, of St. John's, New Brunswick, writes me: "Mr. James 

 Lingley, an old l)ackwoods]nan and close observer, found two nests of the Can- 

 ada Grouse, one on May 4, which was i)artially hidden under the trunk of a 

 fallen tree. He killed the female with a stick of wood, not knowiuff she had 

 a nest close by. On picking her up he found an egg she had just laid, and 

 looking around found the nest with seven eggs. May 20 he found a second 

 nest. This was placed between two small flr bushes that grew (piite close 

 together, and contained thirteen eggs. In both cases the nests Avere com- 

 posed of dried leaves. He also describes the drumming of the male during 

 the mating season, as follows: 'After strutting back and forth for a few min- 

 utes, the )nale flew straight ui), as high as the surrounding trees, about 14 

 feet; here he remained stationary an instant, and while on suspended wing 

 did the drumming with the wings, resembling distant thunder, meanwhiie 

 dropping down slowly to the spot from where he started, to repeat the same 

 thing over and over again. The only food he noticed them take was the 

 needles of the flr.'" 



On the other hand, Mr. J. H. Yarnall, who has examined the crops of a 

 great number of these birds "never found anything in them but the needles of 

 the hackniatack." 



