CHAPTER IV. 

 THE CANADA GEOUSE. 



The Canadian grouse, or spruce partridge — Size, weight and color — Its 

 northern range — The Franklin variety — Large numbers killed with 

 sticks — Caught with nooses placed on the end of a pole— Their 

 food in winter — Flavor of the flesh — Tameness of the Franklin 

 variety — Dust baths — Lie well to a point— Their fearlessness — 

 Look like knobs on a tree — A grouse dog— No sport — Nests — 

 Chicks— Habit of skulking and running — Breeding in confinement 

 — Haunts of the grouse— Bachelor parties — System of wooing — 

 Noise produced by wings — Theory of Maret — A misleading voice 

 — Temptation — An early start— A red terrier — A country hotel — 

 A game of billiurds and a group of critics — An Indian encamp- 

 ment — Securing a guide — Our camp — Among the grouse — Ma- 

 jestic scenery— Death of a forest giant — An Indian graveyard — 

 Killing a fawn — How to " tote " deer — Heavy loads— Forest 

 cookery — How Indians look upon graveyards — Sudden disappear- 

 ance of our red guide— Electing a camp cook — Bears, wolves, and 

 beavers — A mysterious thief — A storm m the forest — Destruction 

 of our camp — Homeward bound — A piece of news — Abundance 

 of grouse. 



The Canada grouse, or spruce iDartridge ( Catiace Cana- 

 densis) has a tail of sixteen broad rounded feathers, 

 and a reddish -yellow strip of naked skin over the eye. It 

 has no inflatable air sacs nor tufts of peculiar feathers on 

 the neck. The prevailing hue of the plumage is blackish, 

 marked below with streaks and bars of white, and undu- 

 lated above with dark gray. The throat has a whitish 

 border; and a broad band of orauge-brown extends across 

 the extremities of the tail feathers. The female is barred 

 with black, brown and buff, and some gray above. The 

 male has a length of sixteen inches, and frequently at- 

 tains a weight of two pounds. This species ranges as 

 far north as 70°, but it is supplanted in the regions 

 adjoining the Pacific Ocean by the Franklin variety, 

 97 5 



