GROUSE, PTARMIGAN 



(300) Bonasa umbellus um = 

 bellus 



(Linn.) (Gr., bison or, hull, to the bell u 

 in^ of which tlieir dnimming is likeni i 

 Lat., umbel, referring to the umbrella like 

 rufls). 



RUFFED GROUSE ; " PAR- 

 TRIDGE" (ill New England), 

 "PHEASANT" (in Southern States). 

 Head slightly crested. Two large 

 neck ruffs, black on the cock and 

 brownish-black on the hen. Tail 

 of eighteen broad feathers. The tone 

 of plumage may be either reddish- 

 brown or gray irrespective of age 

 or sex of the bird. L., 17.00; W., 

 7.50; T., 7.50. 



Range — Mass., N. Y., Mich, and 

 Minn, south to Va. and Kan. From 

 this northern limit northward is 

 found the CANADIAN RUFFED 

 GROUSE (B. u. togata), a variety 

 with brighter, blacker markings. 



CANADA SPRUCE GROUSE, which are found along 

 our northern border and in Canada, are excellent e.xamples 

 of the lameness of wild birds when not hunted or shot at. 

 In this case the flesh is not regarded as fit to eat; consequently 

 neither sportsmen nor trappers kill them e.xcept rarely for 

 amusement. They prefer and are most abundant in dense 

 growths of spruce, or tamarack swamps. In remote places 

 they show such indifference to human beings that they are 

 often caught in the hands, and lumbermen amuse them- 

 selves by catching them in a small noose at the end of a 

 switch. 



RUFFED GROUSE, "Partridge," as they are called in 

 the north, or "Pheasants," as they are named in the south, 

 are regarded by sportsmen as " Kings of American Game 

 Birds. " Birds of handsome plumage and stately mien, 

 they well deserve the title. They hold to the ground until 

 discovery is unavoidable and then depart with a thunderous 

 roar of wings and a speed, as they thread their way among the 



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