THE CANADA GROUSE. 103 
adapted for prospering in a wooded country; and as its 
flesh, though dark, is as tender and succulent as that of 
-any of its genus, it would apparently pay sportsmen to 
stock forests with it. 
The Indians of the Far West say that this species may 
always be found in lowlands and along the courses of 
streams and ravines, while the ruffed grouse is a denizen 
of the uplands and the lower ranges of hills. The west- 
ern is not so much attached to swampy places as its east- 
ern congener, its favorite resorts being dry and sloping 
land; sand ‘“‘barrens” which produce the fir, spruce, 
and pine; and those openings where second-growth tim- 
ber prevails. It is a great skulker in cover, but if it is 
detected on open ground by a dog, it will attempt to 
escape by running, and only take to the wing as a last 
resource. The males are quite fleet of foot after the 
wooing season is over, as they are thin and active, and so 
wary that it is difficult to approach them. When flushed, 
they utter a few loud clucks and dart away suddenly, but 
they do not fly far before settling on a tree or in low shrub- 
bery. They moult in July, and during the entire period 
that they are shedding their feathers, they remain as close- 
ly concealed as possible, to avoid their numerous enemies. 
They keep in parties by themselves from the time the 
hens commence laying until they are joined by the young 
broods, late in the autumn. They win their mates as 
the other members of their family do, by displaying their 
forms, fighting, and calling or drumming. They rise 
spirally in the air at intervals, and produce a drumming 
sound, not unlike that of the snipe in the same situation, 
but it is more metallic in tone. This is louder when 
they are descending than at any other time, as the wings, 
which are then placed at an acute angle with the body, vi- 
brate shghtly and with a tremulous motion, and the tail is 
spread out to its fullest extent and turned over the back. 
If the theory of Maret is correct, it is an easy matter 
