CANADIAN RUFFED GROUSE. 



'^HIS bird, a subspecific form of the Ruffed Grouse, 

 ranges in the northern half of Maine, through- 

 out Canada as far west as the New Caledonia district 

 in British Columbia, and is also found in northern 

 Idaho, Oregon, and Washington on the eastern slopes 

 of the Cascade Range, but does not enter the coast 

 districts. It is very numerous in the thick forests 

 that still cover a large portion of the Dominion of 

 Canada, and is usually quite tame and confiding in dis- 

 position. When a covey or single bird is met with, fly- 

 ing is rarely resorted to, at least at first; the Grouse 

 either walking perhaps a little more rapidly in front or 

 to one side, or else they mount upon the lower branches 

 of a tree close at hand and, motionless, gaze at the in- 

 truder. If a number have perched on the branches of 

 different trees, frequently the majority can be shot before 

 the survivors take alarm and fly deeper into the forest. 

 The usual way of hunting them in these woods is to go 

 with a little dog, which, striking the scent of a Grouse, 

 follows it up until the bird is flushed, and flies usually 

 immediately to a tree, at the foot of which the dog 

 barks frantically, jumping against the trunk, and in 

 many ways exhibiting the excitement under w^hich he 

 labors at seeing the most desired one so near and yet 

 so far. The attention of the Grouse is entirely taken up 

 with the antics and noise of the dog, and pays no heed 

 to the approach of her more formidable and deadly 

 enemy, the sportsman, who at short distance, with either 



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