Gbe Warbler 9 



of the fittest. Before man appeared upon the scene with his shot gun, the 

 natural enemy of the Grouse was the fox, and as soon as he hopped up on a 

 tree the bird could laugh at the fox, but when man came the result was re- 

 versed, and the bird that flew into the tree was the bird that was killed. It 

 is now generally admitted that there is a tendency in the offspring to inherit 

 the peculiarities of the parents. When the foxes were the enemies the birds 

 that lighted on the ground were the birds that were caught, and the birds 

 that treed were the birds that lived to become parents of another generation ; 

 but when man came this was reversed, and the birds that lighted on the 

 ground were the ones left to become parents. Continuing this by killing 

 the birds that lighted in the trees and letting those that lighted on the ground 

 escape, an hereditary tendency to light on the ground would surely be de- 

 veloped. This seems to be sound in theory and the result is clearly sus- 

 tained by observation. 



I noticed considerable difference in the shade coloring of the Grouse, 

 some being darker than others but all have the same markings. On Sep- 

 tember 8th, 1890, my son killed a Grouse near Au Sable Forks on which the 

 three outer feathers of both wings were white. 



The Grouse is omnivorous, and like man and the pig, he eats almost 

 everything. In the winter he lives upon the buds of trees, ard many a bird 

 has lost his life while filling his crop from this source, as he is then an easy 

 mark for the hunter. I have seen his tracks and the marks of his bill on 

 the frozen carcass of our domestic animals. He is fond of blackberries, and 

 sportsmen often visit blackberry patches when looking for him in fhe early 

 fall, but I have been surprised to find that when feeding in a blackberry 

 patch he apparently shows no preference for the ripe berries, filling his crop 

 with all kinds, the very young or green colored, the more mature or red col- 

 ored, and the ripe, and this when the ripe berries are so plenty that he would 

 have no trouble in getting them if he so desired. 



I have never known any bird to eat the wintergreen berry and I am at 

 a loss for the reason. 



The purple clematis is rare around Au Sable Forks. One spring while 

 trout fishing with my brother we found a beautiful vine in full bloom and 

 when going to it saw that it covered a Grouse nest filled with eggs. It was 

 hard to believe that a sense of the beautiful had not induced the bird to se- 

 lect this particular spot for its nest. 



A fact about the Grouse which I find is not generally known is, while in 

 summer its toes are plain like the toes of a chicken, in the winter they are 

 bordered with a stiff hairy fringe that gives it support on the snow, having 

 the same effect as the meshes of our snow shoes. I discovered this some 

 years ago by noticing their tracks. 



This is a fact of considerable interest, for it seems to have a bearing 

 upon the theory that there is a tendency in animals to develop conditions 



