ii8 



GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA. 



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the open to seek for grain, berries, or leaves which aflFord 

 them a sHght change of diet, and sometimes in winter, 

 when the weather is severe and the snow deep, they will 

 approach the barns or other buildings on the farms, and 

 pick up whatever they can find in the way of grain or 

 other suitable food. The nesting season appears to be 

 a late one, although this is difficult to determine, as but 

 few persons have seen the nest, but young broods have 

 been met with late in July, which would show that incu- 

 bation must have commenced somewhere near the begin- 

 ning of that month. The booming note of the males is 

 heard in the spring when they commence their courting, 

 between daybreak and sunrise, and although, on account 

 of the nature of the ground, the birds are seldom seen, 

 yet the antics they practice at that time may not vary 

 from those of the Pinnated Grouse at the same season. 

 This booming sound at all events is very similar to that 

 made by the Western birds. The eggs have rarely been 

 taken, but a set of six, in the possession of my friend 

 Mr. William Brewster of Cambridge, are about the same 

 size as those of the Pinnated Grouse, perhaps a little 

 smaller, and buffy white or creamy buff in color, tinged 

 with greenish and unspotted. The nest is the usual slight 

 depression in the soil, carelessly lined, and situated 

 among weeds or anything affording concealment, and 

 placed near a stump, roots of a tree, or fallen log. 



With adequate protection from strictly enforced laws, 

 aided by the stunted trees and bushes forming a tangled 

 growth and covering the ground they frequent, there 

 is no reason why these survivors of a disappearing race 

 should not be able to preserve the existence of the species 

 through long series of years yet to come. 



