78 FRANK FORESTER'S FIELD SPORTS. 



" Their food consists of berries of different -sorts, and the young 

 twigs and blossoms of several species of plants. In the summer 

 and autumn, I have often found them gorged vi^ith berries of the 

 plant which is commonly called ' Solomon's seal.' In the 

 winter I have seen the crop filled with the short leaves of the 

 larch or hackmetack. 



" I have frequently heard it said that these birds could be 

 knocked down with sticks, or that a whole covey could be shot, 

 while perched on trees, by beginning at the lowest one ; but I 

 never witnessed anything of the kind, and cannot therefore 

 vouch for the truth of the assertion. During the autumn of 

 1833, these birds were uncommonly plentiful in the State of 

 Maine. My friend Edward Harris, of New York, Tho^ias 

 Lincoln, and others, killed a great number ; and the latter gen- 

 tleman procured a pair alive, which were fed on oats and did 

 well. 



" The flesh of this Grouse is dark, and fit for being eaten 

 only when it has fed on berries. In winter, when it feeds on 

 the leaves of trees and other plants, the flesh is quite bitter and 

 disagreeable. 



"According to Dr. Richardson, all the thick and swampy 

 black spruce forests between Canada and the Arctic ocean 

 abound with this bird, and considerable numbers exist, in the 

 severest seasons, as high as the 67th parallel. I am informed 

 by Mr. Townsend that it is also plentiful on the Rocky Moun- 

 tains and the plains of the Columbia, from which parts I have 

 obtained specimens differing in nothing from others procured i|j 

 Maine and Labrador. I have also compared those in the Edin» 

 burgh Museum, which Mr. Douglass was pleased to name 

 Franklin's Grouse, with several of my own, and feel confident 

 that they are all of one and the same species." 



From this vivid and life-like description of this beautiful little 

 Grouse, its habits, food, motions, and the districts which it 

 inhabits, it will be evident to all that it cannot be denied a place 

 among the Upland game of the United States and British Pro- 



