378 



A JOURNEY TO THE 



Wood Par- 

 tridge. 



Willow Par- 

 tridge. 



been the produce of their own eggs. This species of Grouse 

 is called by the Southern Indians Aw-kis-cow. 



[410] The Wood Partridges ^ have acquired that name 

 in Hudson's Bay from their always frequenting the forests 

 of pines and fir ; and in Winter feeding on the brush of those 

 trees, though they are fondest of the latter. This species of 

 Grouse is inferior in size and beauty to the Ruffed, yet may 

 be called a handsome bird ; the plumage being of a handsome 

 brown, elegantly spotted with white and black. The tail is 

 long, and tipped with orange ; and the legs are warmly 

 covered with short feathers, but the feet are naked. They 

 are generally in the extreme with respect to shyness ; some- 

 times not suffering a man to come within two gun-shots, and 

 at others so tame that the sportsman may kill five or six 

 out of one tree without shifting his station. They are seen 

 in some years in considerable numbers near York Fort. They 

 are very scarce at Churchill, though numerous in the interior 

 parts, particularly on the borders of the Athapuscow Indians 

 country, where I have seen my Indian companions kill many 

 of them with blunt-headed arrows. In Winter their flesh is 

 black, hard and bitter, probably owing to the resinous quality 

 of their food during that season ; but this is not observed in 

 the rabbits, though they feed exactly in the same manner in 

 Winter : on the contrary, their flesh is esteemed more delicate 

 than that of the English rabbit. The Southern Indians call 

 this species of Partridge, Mistick-a-pethow ; and the Northern 

 Indians call it, Day. 



[411] The Willow Partridges- have a strong black 



[' Canachites cuTtadensis (Linn.). This grouse inhabits all the region west ot 

 Hudson Bay north nearly to the limit of trees, but is scarce near the northern 

 border of its range.] 



[* Lagopus lagopus (Linn.). This beautiful ptarmigan is still abundant on 

 the shores of Hudson Bay. It breeds abundantly throughout the Barren 

 Grounds and in considerable numbers on the treeless areas which form an 

 almost continuous fringe along the west coast of the Bay nearly to its southern 

 extremity.] 



