SPRUCE GROUSE 5 
dusky brown and black, though there are some 
traces of the male bird’s color plan also, such 
as the white feathering on the flanks and below, 
but there should be no difficulty in distinguish- 
ing one from the other at a glance, since, aside 
from its smaller size, the Spruce Partridge 
lacks the ‘‘Elizabethan ruff’’ on the neck, has 
no crest and is feathered to the toes. 
In southern New England this bird is prob- 
ably now never taken, though in the old days it 
was seen occasionally. In Maine the Spruce 
Grouse is very rare in the southern parts, be- 
ing occasionally found in the neighborhood of 
Umbagog lake in Oxford county, growing more 
common as we approach the northern lumber 
regions and on the wooded slopes of the moun- 
tains, but still nowhere in the State equally 
numerous with the ruffed grouse. They be- 
come more abundant as we go farther north. 
This bird is vastly inferior to the ruffed 
grouse in the qualities for which the latter is 
so highly prized by sportsmen, being neither so 
crafty, strong and fleet of wing, nor, in a word, 
so ‘‘game.”’ 
The northern lumbermen speak slightingly 
of its intellect, giving it the complimentary title 
