103 



" I thank you for your welcome. In 

 the name of all who have come from 

 distant lands, from Asia and Europe, I 

 thank you. We have come to hold a 

 Grouse Jubilee. Surely we may well 

 hold such a meeting and review our 

 history and accomplishments, if the 

 people who are really only new comers 

 into our lands can hold a jubilee over a 

 Queen whose family have been in Eng 

 land but a few hundred years. What 

 are a hundred years in the history of 

 our family who lived in England and 

 northern Europe thousands of years 

 ago? 



"I will call upon the willow grouse 

 to tell us the history of our famous 

 family as he knows it." 



Slowly Mr. Willow Grouse advanced 

 to the log, chewing the bud of a birch 

 tree as he came. 



He bowed and said: " Mr. Chairman, 

 you must excuse my slow speech, but 

 you know I am the eldest brother of 

 the grouse family and am not so strong 

 as I used to be. Our history is cer 

 tainly wonderful! Thousands of years 

 ago we came southward with the ice 

 and as the ice melted we flew north 

 again. Today we live in many lands. 

 I have traveled from Scandinavia with 

 my wife and children, flying over 

 Siberia and Alaska. My wife and I 

 dress alike and our gray summer suits 

 are good for traveling. In winter we 

 prefer white coats, for then the hunter 

 can not tell us from the snow." Just 

 then a bird near us muttered: " That is 

 nothing remarkable. I have three 

 suits every year." " Hush," said a bird 

 near him, "you must not interrupt." 



But the willow grouse had finished, 

 and after the young grouse had given 

 him the front seat, for they are very 

 kind to the old, the grouse who had 

 boasted of his coats said: " Mr. Presi 

 dent, I come from the high mountain 

 peaks. Men call me ptarmigan or 

 winged, because I have such thick 

 plumage. As this is summer my legs 

 and feet are quite bare and my coat is 

 the color of the twigs, but you should 

 see my winter suit! It is thick and 

 soft and white as snow, and thick 

 downy stockings cover my feet. They 

 help me to make my way over the 



snow. In the autumn my coat changes 

 to gray the color of the rocks on the 

 mountain side. It is hard work some 

 times to find enough to eat so high up 

 in the mountains, but better a dish of 

 leaves in freedom than to live on plenty 

 in constant fear of the gun of the 

 hunter." "Cock, cock!" said the 

 grouse, and it sounded so much like 

 our " hear, hear! " that I almost laughed 

 aloud. 



"The next number on our program 

 will be a waltz," said the chairman. 

 "A waltz," I thought; "grouse waltzing; 

 whoever heard of such a thing?" Just 

 then a handsome young capercailzie 

 came to the log. It is not strange they 

 are called the u cocks-of-the-wood," for 

 they are certainly the handsomest of 

 the grouse family. He puffed out his 

 feathers, strutted back and forth on 

 the log and began his waltz. It was a 

 comical sight! While he was dancing 

 he kept up the oddest singing all on 

 one note. Soon a black cock joined 

 him and then they tried to show off. 

 Some hens favored the capercailzie 

 and some gathered around the black 

 cock. At last all took sides, and it 

 would have ended in a fight, only the 

 dignified chairman stopped the dance 

 and told them to remember that this 

 was not a fight, but a jubilee. The 

 cocks lowered their wings, but I believe 

 they will fight it out sometime. 



" Let us hear from the red grouse; 

 let us hear from the red grouse!" cried 

 several birds at once. A small bird 

 with rich red-brown plumage came to 

 the log. 



"This is the first time I have ever 

 been away from Great Britain," said 

 the red grouse, "and I must be back 

 for the I2th of August. That is an ex 

 citing day! All summer my wife and 

 I keep with the children and live in 

 peace, but on that day the hunters 

 come. It is great fun to. wait till they 

 come very near and then whiz past so 

 quickly that the shot does not reach 



you 



Great fun, indeed!" muttered 



the ptarmigan; "fun for the hunter to 

 slay his thousands every year." "Yes, 

 that is true," replied the red grouse, 

 "but we live in safety all the year ex 

 cept the hunting season. The keepers 



