﻿BIRDS 
  OF 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  365 
  

  

  Canachites 
  canadensis 
  canace 
  (Linnaeus) 
  

   Canada 
  or 
  Spruce 
  Grouse 
  

  

  Plate 
  41 
  

  

  Tetrao 
  canadensis 
  Linnaeus. 
  Syst. 
  Nat. 
  Ed. 
  10. 
  1758. 
  1:159 
  

  

  DeKay. 
  Zool. 
  N. 
  Y. 
  1844. 
  pt 
  2, 
  p. 
  206, 
  fig. 
  173 
  

   Dendragapus 
  canadensis 
  A. 
  O. 
  U. 
  Check 
  List. 
  Ed. 
  2. 
  1895. 
  No. 
  298 
  

  

  canaclii'tes, 
  Gr., 
  ;(avaxftu, 
  to 
  make 
  a 
  noise, 
  referring 
  to 
  the 
  drumming; 
  canaden'sis, 
  

   of 
  Canada; 
  cana'ce, 
  Gr., 
  KavaK?;; 
  canace, 
  daughter 
  of 
  Aeolus, 
  from 
  Kavaxfj, 
  a 
  noise 
  

  

  Description. 
  Tarsi 
  feathered 
  to 
  the 
  toes; 
  a 
  bare 
  orange 
  spot 
  above 
  

   the 
  eye; 
  no 
  crest 
  or 
  ruff; 
  tail 
  of 
  i6 
  feathers. 
  Male: 
  Upper 
  parts 
  and 
  

   sides 
  wavy 
  barred 
  with 
  black 
  and 
  gray; 
  under 
  parts 
  extensively 
  black 
  with 
  

   white 
  feather 
  tips; 
  tail 
  black 
  with 
  ocherous 
  rufous 
  or 
  orange 
  -brown 
  tip. 
  

   Female: 
  Quite 
  uniformly 
  varied 
  with 
  ocherous, 
  gray 
  and 
  blackish, 
  the 
  

   gray 
  appearing 
  as 
  a 
  veil 
  cast 
  over 
  the 
  ocherous 
  and 
  blackish 
  bars; 
  under 
  

   parts 
  with 
  white 
  feather 
  tips. 
  Young: 
  Similar 
  to 
  female. 
  

  

  Length 
  15-17 
  inches; 
  wing 
  7; 
  tail 
  5.5. 
  Hens 
  smaller 
  than 
  cocks. 
  

  

  The 
  Canada 
  grouse, 
  Spruce 
  grouse, 
  Spotted 
  grouse 
  or 
  Spruce 
  ' 
  'partridge," 
  

   is 
  confined 
  to 
  the 
  boreal 
  life 
  zone 
  of 
  North 
  America. 
  In 
  New 
  York 
  it 
  occurs 
  

   only 
  in 
  the 
  spruce, 
  fir, 
  and 
  tamarack 
  forests 
  of 
  the 
  Adirondacks 
  where 
  it 
  is 
  

   a 
  strictly 
  resident 
  species. 
  It 
  was 
  formerly 
  common 
  throughout 
  the 
  tama- 
  

   rack 
  and 
  spruce 
  swamps 
  of 
  the 
  North 
  Woods, 
  but 
  for 
  many 
  years 
  it 
  has 
  

   become 
  scarcer 
  and 
  scarcer, 
  until 
  it 
  is 
  now 
  threatened 
  with 
  extermination 
  

   in 
  our 
  State. 
  On 
  September 
  ist, 
  1879, 
  Dr 
  Merriam 
  noted 
  it 
  as 
  common 
  on 
  

   the 
  Brown's 
  Tract 
  Still-AVater, 
  Herkimer 
  county, 
  and 
  found 
  it 
  near 
  Big 
  

   Moose 
  in 
  1880 
  and 
  1882. 
  Mr 
  Scott 
  Brown 
  of 
  St 
  Huberts 
  showed 
  me 
  a 
  

   fine 
  pair 
  which 
  were 
  taken 
  in 
  the 
  swamp 
  along 
  the 
  cold 
  slough 
  near 
  the 
  

   head 
  of 
  Upper 
  Ausable 
  lake, 
  in 
  the 
  fall 
  of 
  1904. 
  Mr 
  Miner 
  of 
  Saranac 
  

   stated 
  that 
  only 
  one 
  specimen 
  in 
  many 
  years 
  had 
  been 
  brought 
  to 
  his 
  place 
  

   to 
  be 
  mounted. 
  This 
  grouse 
  is 
  so 
  unsuspicious 
  that 
  when 
  disturbed 
  they 
  

   alight 
  in 
  neighboring 
  trees 
  and 
  the 
  whole 
  company 
  may 
  be 
  shot 
  down 
  one 
  after 
  

   another 
  without 
  a 
  single 
  bird 
  escaping. 
  Thoughtless 
  hunters 
  have 
  often 
  

   accomplished 
  this 
  feat 
  and 
  afterward 
  told 
  of 
  it 
  as 
  being 
  an 
  exploit 
  of 
  sports- 
  

   manship. 
  As 
  the 
  species 
  is 
  of 
  local 
  occurrence 
  in 
  the 
  Adirondacks, 
  it 
  is 
  

   easv 
  to 
  see 
  how 
  this 
  treatment 
  has 
  brought 
  about 
  its 
  destruction. 
  In 
  

  

  