



PINNATED GROUSE 239 



during the winter as to feed from the hand of his wife, 

 and altogether acted as domestic poultry might act. 

 In spring they went through the operations of mating 

 just as did their wild brethren, and a number of them 

 hatched, but at last the birds proved so destructive in 

 the garden that they were ordered to be killed. 



As will be seen on another page, birds sent to Eng- 

 land became quite tame, and many years ago I had a 

 dozen of these grouse in New York, which, when turned 

 out in the spring, so readily accustomed themselves to 

 their surroundings that they followed a man who was 

 spading the garden and scratched and crowded over the 

 freshly turned-up earth in search of insects. They were 

 less wild than so many domestic hens. 



In many of its ways, the pinnated grouse suggests a 

 domestic fowl. Though often carrying its tail droop- 

 ing toward the ground, it often carries it upright, as 

 a hen carries her tail. The mother of a young brood 

 will fight for it, or at least will try to frighten away 

 an intruder. The young chicks constantly talk to each 

 other as they move along, and if one of them discovers 

 an insect and runs after it all those within sight join 

 in the pursuit. 



Mr. E. E. Thompson, in his "Birds of Manitoba," 

 points out that, while it was only in 1881 or 1882 that 

 the pinnated grouse was found in Manitoba, before 

 1890 it had become common at many points, such as 

 Winnipeg, Portage la Prairie and other localities. Pre- 

 vious to this, in 1872, Dr. Coues had written: 



