SPRUCE GROUSE 5 



dusky brown and black, though there are some 

 traces of the male bird's color plan also, such 

 as the white feathering on the flanks and below, 

 but there should be no difficulty in distinguish- 

 ing one from the other at a glance, since, aside 

 from its smaller size, the Spruce Partridge 

 lacks the ''Elizabethan ruff" on the neck, has 

 no crest and is feathered to the toes. 



In southern New England this bird is prob- 

 ably now never taken, though in the old days it 

 was seen occasionally. In Maine the Spruce 

 Grouse is very rare in the southern parts, be- 

 ing occasionally found in the neighborhood of 

 Umbagog lake in Oxford county, growing more 

 common as we approach the northern lumber 

 regions and on the wooded slopes of the moun- 

 tains, but still nowhere in the State equally 

 numerous with the ruffed grouse. They be- 

 come more abundant as we go farther north. 



This bird is vastly inferior to the ruffed 

 grouse in the qualities for which the latter is 

 so highly prized by sportsmen, being neither so 

 crafty, strong and fleet of wing, nor, in a word, 

 so ''game." 



The northern lumbermen speak slightingly 

 of its intellect, giving it the complimentary title 



