162 CONSERVATION OF CANADIAN WILD LIFE 
Ruffed Grouse-—This species, commonly known as the 
‘‘nartridge,” offers excellent sport to the hunter. It ranges 
through the wooded regions of all the provinces from Prince 
Edward Island and Nova Scotia to British Columbia, and 
the ‘‘drumming”’ of the male birds is a well-known sound 
of springtime, when the winter snows are melting. During 
the last few years there has been an alarming decrease in 
the numbers of this and other species of grouse, the causes 
of which will be discussed presently. With adequate pro- 
tection, however, when the numbers of grouse become seri- 
ously reduced, there is no reason to fear their disappearance, 
provided the protective regulations are adequately enforced, 
as the breeding range is so wide that the species have suf- 
ficient means for recuperation. 
Ptarmigan.—These hardy birds breed in our most north- 
erly latitudes, and are chiefly distinguished by the fact that 
they assume a plumage of pure white during the winter 
months. The willow ptarmigan breeds throughout northern 
Canada from the Labrador coast and northern Quebec to the 
Yukon. In the autumn they unite to form flocks of con- 
siderable size, and constitute an important article of food 
for the Indians and Eskimos and the few white inhabitants 
of the north during the winter. Above the timber-line in 
the Rocky Mountains and other high mountains in British 
Columbia is to be found the white-tailed ptarmigan. 
The Pinnated Grouse or Prairie Chicken.—This well-known 
game-bird of the prairie regions has followed the extension 
of the area devoted to grain-growing. It migrated into 
Canada from the south; the first specimens appear to have 
been killed in Manitoba about 1881, according to Thompson. 
By 1884 it had become tolerably common, and in 1886 it 
was abundant near Winnipeg, and is now spread over the 
entire prairie region of Canada. During recent years, how- 
ever, its numbers have been reduced to such an extent 
through natural causes and overshooting that the provin- 
