CANADA GROUSE, SPRUCE PARTRIDGE 127 
tied to the end of a stick may be passed over its head 
as it sits on a limb, and it may thus be dragged from 
its perch. A bird of such confiding disposition would 
not afford much sport, and besides this the deep forests 
which this species inhabits are far from the usual 
haunts of the gunner. 
The range of the Canada grouse extends from 
northern New England, north through Labrador, west 
to northern Minnesota and northwestward to Alaska. 
We have seen them on the shores of Prince William 
Sound and Cook Inlet in that territory. Its northern 
limit, according to Swainson, extends to the parallel 
of 67°. It is not migratory, and breeds wherever found, 
and its favorite home is in the dense swamps and ever- 
green thickets of the north land. It is upon the buds 
and leaves of these evergreens that it chiefly feeds, and 
from this food its flesh often takes a resinous taste that 
is not agreeable. 
The breeding season is in May or June, according to 
latitude. The mating actions of the male—his drum- 
ming—differ much from those of other grouse. Major 
Bendire quotes a correspondent as saying: ‘‘After 
strutting back and forth for a few minutes the male 
flew straight up as high as the surrounding trees, about 
fourteen feet; here he remained stationary an instant, 
and while on suspended wing did the drumming with 
the wings, resembling distant thunder, meanwhile 
dropping down slowly to the spot from where he 
started, to repeat the same thing over and over again.” 
Mr. Everett Smith says in Forest and Stream: “The 
