EICIIAKDSON'S GROUSE. 51 



Like tlie Sooty Grouse, after the youug are fairly grown, these birds spend 

 the greater portion of the late summer and autumn along the creek bottoms, 

 fringed with dense thickets of cottonwoods, and many berry-bearing bushes, 

 and at such times they become exceedingly fat 1 . I have seen them fully 10 

 miles away from any pine timber at this time of the year, and occasionally 

 quite a distance from timber of any kind. Their nesting habits, as far 

 as known, as well as the eggs, are similar in every respect to those of the 

 Dusky and Sooty Grouse. The latter seem to average a trifle smaller, the 

 mean being 47 by 34 millimetres. The largest specimen measures 51 by 

 34.5, the smallest 43 by 33.5 millimetres. This apparent difference in size 

 can scarcely be taken into account, and is due, no doubt, to the small num- 

 ber (eleven specimens) in the U. S. National Museum collection; the majority 

 of these, all from one set, laid probably by a young bird, are very small, 

 and they reduce the general average considerably. As these eggs are indis- 

 tinguishable from those of the preceding race none are figured. 



18. Dendragapus canadensis (Linnaeus). 



CANADA GROUSE. 



Tetrao canadensis LinnjEUS, Systema Naturae, ed. 10, I, 1758, 159. 



Dendragapus canadensis Ridgway, Proceedings U. S. National Museum, vni, 1885, 355. 



(B 460, C 380, R 472, C 555, U 298). 



Geographical range : Northern North America east of the Rocky Mountains, 

 from the northern portions of the New England States, New York, Michigan, and Min- 

 nesota northwestward to Alaska (reaching coast at Kadiak, St. Michael, etc.). 



The breeding range of the Canada Grouse, or the Spruce Partridge, 

 extends from northwestern Alaska (Kowak or Putnam River) southeastward 

 throughout British North America from ocean to ocean, south to central Minne- 

 sota, northern Wisconsin, northern Michigan, northern New York, and northern 

 New England. It must, however, be considered as rather a rare summer resi- 

 dent within the United States, excepting northern Minnesota, where it is said t< > 

 be common in the immense forests of the northeastern parts of the State, and 

 extending westward to the edge of the prairie at White Earth. 2 



The Canada Grouse is usually resident, and breeds wherever found. At 

 times, however, it is partially migratory during the winter; probably due more 

 to lack of suitable food than to cold, as it has been found in considerable num- 

 bers, during the severest kind of weather, as far north as latitude 67°. Its 

 favorite abiding places are the dense thickets of tamarack, Larix americana, 

 also called hackmatac, and in groves and swamps of evergreen woods. 



Mr. L. M. Turner, in his manuscript on the Birds of Labrador and Ungava, 

 makes the following statement: "The mating season occurs in this locality 

 (Fort Chimo) in the latter part of April or early May. It is said that the 



1 According to Dr. C. Hart Merriam, this Grouse feeds largely on the berries of Arctostaphylos uva-nrsi 

 and Bibes cereum, besides green leaves of the willow and other bushes. 



2 Bulletin n, Dept. of Agriculture, Bird Migration Mississippi Valley, 1888, p. 103, 



