JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOIvOGICAL SOCIETY. 35 



to the bottom of the river. Just how, no one seems to know, 

 l)ut they do it by some ingenious contrivance and make them 

 lie on the bottom of the river, and I am told that if disturbed they 

 will quickly rise up from the liottom. They gnaw off the poplar 

 bark for food for winter use. We measured trees felled by beavers 

 that were sixteen inches through. Their houses were much larger 

 than I had supposed them to l)e. Four of us stood upon one of 

 them and it was as solid as a cradle knoll. We spent considerable 

 time in examining their works, and the dams they had built. 



It was never our privilege to get into a locality where the 

 Ruffed Grouse were so al)undant. All that we examined were 

 clearly of the Gray type {7\\i^afa). There was about an acre of 

 cleared land at the dam where the camps were, and it was very 

 common to see Grouse come out to the edge of the plowed ground 

 and stand and look at us as unconcerned as a flock of domestic 

 hens might do. They were usually in flocks, not having been dis- 

 turbed by man, and as we came on to a flock they did not fly, but 

 would hop up on to a bush, or a log or stone and look us over in 

 amazement. 



Back away from the river in the dense clumps of spruce were to 

 be found the Canada Grouse {Dendragapus canadensis) (Linn.), 

 sometimes occurring in flocks, but usually a single bird or two or 

 three would hop up on a limb and look unconcerned at us, with 

 no thought of flight or apparently without knowledge of fear. One 

 could throw sticks at them as they sat upon a limb, and unless a 

 stick struck very near they would not stir a step. We found the 

 Spruce Partridge very much more abundant than I had expected to 

 find them, and there was every evidence that they breed there. 



The American Sheldrake {Merganser avicricanus) (Cass.) was 

 seen on the river and near the mouth of the numerous lagoons dur- 

 ing our stay there. 



Two Great Blue Herons {Ardea Iierodias) (Linn.) were seen 

 feeding in one of the lagoons near the camps. We saw several 

 Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers while there, and the Downy and North- 

 ern Hairy Woodpeckers were very plenty. Both representatives of 



