FRANKLIN’S GROUSE. 107 
without creating an alarm, or causing the birds to make 
any attempt at flight. Of course nothing but the neces- 
sity of obtaining food for the camp would excuse such 
thorough slaughter, for certainly there was no sport in 
shooting creatures that would not get out of the way, 
nor rarely make an attempt to fly, and it seemed a 
pity to kill birds for the pot that were so rare in all orni- 
thological collections. A pair obtained on one of these 
occasions, I am glad to think, is now in the collection of 
the American Museum of Natural History in New York. 
The males of Franklin’s Grouse are like their relatives 
of the other species, pugnacious creatures, attacking 
almost anything, and very fearless. This trait is of 
course exhibited chiefly during the mating season, but 
they are quite ready to act on the offensive or defensive 
at any time. They have also the same habit as the 
Spruce Grouse of erecting the feathers just below the 
head, making the birds appear very odd, and the males 
strut in a similar way as that already described in the 
article on the other species. This Grouse appears not 
to go far from water, and when in the forest, if not in pre- 
cisely a swamp, the birds would always be found in some 
wet spot, or near a brook or spring. 
Franklin’s Grouse is a thorough mountaineer, living at 
altitudes varying all the way from 5000 to 10,000 feet, 
and it is only occasionally that it descends much below 
the first-named elevation. Wherever found there it re- 
sides and breeds, raising the young brood probably in the 
same locality where the parents themselves grew to 
maturity. It is not rare in the places it frequents, but is 
often met with in considerable numbers; not in large 
flocks, but numerous coveys scattered over a con- 
siderable area. From its trustful nature and consequent 
reluctance to save itself by flight, a great many are killed 
