52 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



weather at this season may influence the pairing of this species for two or 

 three weeks later. The males exercise much intrigue to secure the object of 

 their choice for the season, although I have reason to suspect that some of 

 these birds retain their mate for more than one season, as I have frequently 

 found a pair together in the depth of winter, these two being the only ones of 

 the kind to be found in the vicinity. 



"Laying begins about the 5th of June, and incubation about the 12th. 

 The young are hatched in about seventeen days. Young birds about five days 

 old were obtained June 28, and others, able to fly, were secured July 10. 

 Through the exertions of Miss Lizzie Ford I was enabled to secure two sets 

 of eggs of this species. The nest consisted merely of a few stalks and blades 

 of grass, loosely arranged among the moss of a higher spot, under the drooping 

 limbs of a spruce, situated in a swamp. A few feathers from the parent bird 

 were also in the nest. The number of. eggs in this nest was seven, all quite 

 fresh. A second set, also of seven eggs, was found in a similar situation, and 

 near the location of the nest previously described. 



"The food of the Spruce Partridge consists of the tender terminal buds of 

 the spruce, and in winter this seems to be their only food. In a great num- 

 ber of birds examined during that season this was the only substance found 

 in their gizzards, mixed at times with an astonishing quantity of gravel. I 

 was surprised to find these stones of such uniformity of size and material. 

 Crystallized quartz fragments, in certain instances, formed alone the triturating 

 substance, and rarely were there fragments of granite or other stones. In fact 

 many of the birds had not a discolored stone in their gizzard. In the spring 

 and summer months these birds consume quantities of berries of Empetrum and 

 Vaccinmm." 



Mr. J. W. Banks, of St. John's, New Brunswick, writes me: "Mr. James 

 Lingley, an old backwoodsman and close observer, found two nests of the Can- 

 ada Grouse, one on May 4, which was partially hidden under the trunk of a 

 fallen tree. He killed the female with a stick of wood, not knowing she had 

 a nest close by. On picking her up he found an egg she had just laid, and 

 looking around found the nest with seven eggs. May 20 he found a second 

 nest. This was placed between two small fir bushes that grew quite close 

 together, and contained thirteen eggs. In both cases the nests were com- 

 posed of dried leaves. He also describes the drumming of the male during 

 the mating season, as follows: 'After strutting back and forth for a few min- 

 utes, the male flew straight up, as high as the surrounding trees, about 14 

 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. The only food he noticed them take was the 

 needles of the fir.'" 



On the other hand, Mr. J. H. Yarnall, who has examined the crops of a 

 great number of these birds "never found anything in them but the needles of 

 the hackmatack." 



