158 ‘ NOTES ON THE ‘ 
DENDRAGAPUS CANADENSIS (L.).  (298.) 
CANADA GROUSE. 
The lumbermen of the forests east and north of Brainerd, 
for years before I ever obtained one, repeatedly told of a 
‘‘patridge”’ in logging sections that was different from those 
we ordinarily see. 
By a good fortune, two Canada Grouse were sent to my 
taxidermist, Mr. Wm. Howling, to be mounted many years ago, 
one of each sex, which I had ample opportunity to examine. 
Since then many more have reached me through the same 
channel, and I have myself procured several. They are per- 
manent residents of the northern half of the State, scattering 
individuals reaching a south line of its habitat about sixty 
miles northeast of Minneapolis. It is said to be a very dull, 
stupid Grouse, easily obtained by almost any ignoble means 
which lumbermen and Indian boys may adopt, and conse- 
quently subject to exceptional destruction where desired for 
food. The flesh is not as desirable as the Ruffed or Pinnated 
Grouse, yet the Indians of the section where it has most 
abounded have made them relatively quite scarce of late years. 
But as a whole, it is a common species in the sections named, 
and not at all confined to the spruce swamps as we have been 
informed hitherto. Its nest, consisting of moss and leaves, is 
on the ground, with less effort at concealment than the other 
members of the family manifested in the evergreen swamps of 
the regions they inhabit, and are rather easily found. The 
eggs, said to be about the same in number as those of the 
Ruffed Grouse, are a dirty-cream color, blotched considerably 
with dark-brown. Their note is described as a suppressed 
cluck. lLangille says of this species: ‘‘Itis the aristocrat of 
the family, stepping daintily on its moss-covered and deeply- 
shaded apartments, feeding in the summer on such berries as 
may be found in the forest, and in winter being content with 
even the leaves of the evergreens.’’* 
In his excellent report to me of the birds of Otter Tail, 
Aitkin and Mille Lacs counties, Mr. Washburn says of this 
grouse: ‘‘This bird was reported to me as common north of the 
centre of the State, and in the northeastern part. In Otter 
Tail county, there being no pine or spruce, I did not expect to 
find it, but was much disappointed in not meeting with it at 
‘ 
*Birds in their Haunts, p. 409. 
