: 
109 
This is the “Partridge” of most Canadian sportsmen Dwelling in 
the deep woods amidst the underbrush, lying close, rising at the feet like 
a miniature explosion, and flying with great speed through the dim forest 
_ it tests the alertness and marksmanship of any sportsman. The Ruffed 
Grouse to-day is found only in the forest patches where cover and a con- 
siderable area give it protection and along the fringes of settlement where 
it still exists precariously. 
Sudden weather changes are a serious menace to the Ruffed Grouse. 
Wet, cold springs are deadly to the young and sleet destroys much potential 
breeding stock in winter. In severe weather the Ruffed Grouse seeks 
shelter beneath the snow or allows the latter to drift over it. Should soft 
weather come followed by cold, as often happens, it is frozen under a crust 
which it cannot break and so succumbs. 
The drumming of the Partridge is a familiar sound to all frequenters 
of the woods. It is a series of dull reverberating throbs made by the rapidly 
beating wings and has a peculiar all-pervading intensity which makes the 
direction of its origin difficult of location. The beats begin slowly, gradu- 
ally increasing in speed until at the end of perhaps five seconds they run 
into each other and die away in a confused whir. The bird is usually 
strutting along a prostrate log when he pauses to drum. During the drum- 
ming the bird displays all its ornaments—tail, crest, and ruffs—and though 
standing upright and still, the wings are lost in a haze of speed. Two 
_ sources for this drumming noise are suggested, one that the wings are 
struck together over the back and the other that they are brought against 
the sides to produce the beat. Either or neither may contribute to the 
effect. The sound from the wings beating on the air as the bird rises to 
wing is quite similar in quality if not in intensity or meter, and the mere 
beating of the air seems sufficient to produce the effect. The action, of 
course, is the call of the male to the female, as is the display of the Peacock 
or the Turkey Gobler. Spring is the proper season for drumming, but it 
is indulged in more or less throughout the summer and with increased 
frequency again in the autumn. In the Canada Ruffed Grouse Bonasa 
umbellus togata, two well-defined colour phases appear which are not 
governed by sex, season, or locality. In one form there is considerable 
red; in an extreme example the ruffs are copper-coloured rather than black, 
_ the tail is strikingly red, and there is more or less of the same colour else. 
_where. In the grey form, which is perhaps the most typical, the tail is 
na et 
decidedly grey, there is less red elsewhere, and the ruffs are black with a 
shght greenish sheen. All intermediate forms are met with. 
Economic Status. As the species lives in woods nothing can be said 
against it even if, apart from its sentimental and sporting importance, 
little economic value can be claimed for it. 
GENUS—LaGopus. PTARMIGAN. 
General Description. The Ptarmigan are more northern Grouse, and notable for their 
remarkable seasonal change in plumage. In winter, they are pure white; in summer, barred 
_ with various shades of red, brown, and ochre, with the reddish usually prevailing. Their feet 
are feathered to the ends of the toes and they perform definite and long migrations, walking 
_ most of the way but occasionally taking flights from point to point or across such wide 
waters as Hudson strait. As, even in midsummer, irregular patches of white remain in 
their plumage, and, as their feet are always feathered to the toes, there is no chance of 
57172—8} 
