2 FEATHERED GAME 



quails and the ptarmigans than to the other 

 grouse. 



Their homes are in the boggy portions of the 

 woods — swampy ground carpeted in summer 

 with moss and trailing vines, deep-shaded with 

 spruce and hemlock — ^where quaking bogs and 

 mire over which they pass with light and nimble 

 steps make the footing of the pursuer treacher- 

 ous in the extreme — almost impassable haunts 

 at any other than the winter season. In the 

 summer months they feed upon the insects, 

 wild fruits and berries of the woods and at this 

 season their flesh can scarcely be distinguished 

 from that of the ruffed grouse in flavor. In- 

 deed, upon examination of the barrels of "birch 

 partridges" which were annually destroyed in 

 the Maine woods by illegal snaring, (now hap- 

 pily almost a thing of the past because our mar- 

 kets are closed to the sale of game), many 

 Spruce Grouse were to be found, having been 

 passed off upon the dealer as ruffed grouse, and 

 as this better bird were they sold to inexperi- 

 enced buyers. But with the coming of the snow 

 the days of plenty have passed and there is lit- 

 tle left for them but the leaves and buds of the 

 various evergreens which make the forests of 



