SPKTJCE GROUSE. 39 



the Rocky Mountains, to Labrador and Alaska. The male is one of 

 the handsomest of the grouse; it is gray, with black bars above and 

 clear black and white below, with a rusty band edging its fanlike tail. 

 In spring brilliant red combs above the eyes add to the beauty of the 

 strutting cock. These birds drum in an odd way: The male selects 

 an inclined tree and flutters up the trunk for lO to 20 feet, drumming 

 as he goes. The spruce grouse nests in May or early June and lays 

 from 9 to 16 buflf-colored eggs, handsomely marked with rich chestnut 

 and brown. 



FOOD HABITS. 



Study of the food habits of the spruce grouse has been but meager, 

 since only 8 stomachs were available for examination. These were 

 collected in January, May, August, September, October, and Novem- 

 ber, 6 of them in Canada, 1 in Michigan, and 1 in ilinnesota. The 

 material in the stomachs consisted of 100 percent vegetable matter — 

 18.33 percent seeds, 19.73 percent fruit, 61.94 percent coniferous 

 foliage. The seeds were of spruce, thistle, and several unidentifi- 

 able plants. In its frugivorous habits the spruce grouse closely 

 resembles its relative, the blue grouse. The proportion of bear- 

 berries was 16.67 percent, and of other fruit 3.06 percent. Solomon's 

 seal {Polygo7iatiim), hlueherries (Facei;t/'/m), bunchberries {Cormis 

 canadensis)^ crowberries {Empetrnm), and juniper berries are among 

 the berries principally eaten. Dr. C. Hart Merriam, Chief of the 

 Biological Survey, has informed the writer that the spruce grouse 

 feeds largely on the bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi) and the 

 wax currant {Ribes cerenm). 



When cold weather comes the spruce grouse usually abandons a 

 berry diet and eats nothing but its favorite food — the leaves, buds, and 

 tender shoots of conifers. This kind of browse formed 61.94 percent 

 of the food of the eight birds examined in the laboratory. It is 

 safe to assume that more than half the year's food of this grouse is 

 obtained by browsing, and that nearly half consists of the foliage 

 of conifers. Wilson and Bonaparte state that in winter this species 

 feeds on the shoots of spruce," a habit so generally known that it has 

 given to the bird its name. According to IMajor Bendire, this grouse 

 feeds also on the needles of tamarack (Larix laricina) , and in certain 

 localities feeds upon them exclusively.* It has been known also to eat 

 the needles of Pinus divaricata and the fir balsam [Ahies halsamea). 

 As with the blue grouse, resinous food imparts to the flesh a decidedly 

 pitchy flavor. 



W. H. Osgood, of the Biological Survey, informs the writer that 

 he examined crops of the Alaska grouse which contained the leaves 



- Am. Ornith., vol. 4, p. 208, 1831. 

 "Ute Hist. N. A. Birds, [I], p. 52, 1892. 



