﻿40 
  GBOUSE 
  AND 
  WILD 
  TURKEYS 
  Oi] 
  UXITED 
  STATES. 
  

  

  of 
  blueberry 
  {Vaccinium) 
  and 
  horsetail 
  (Equisetum). 
  The 
  Alaska 
  

   spruce 
  grouse, 
  according 
  to 
  Dr. 
  W. 
  H. 
  Dall, 
  was 
  found 
  at 
  Xulato 
  in 
  

   winter 
  feeding 
  exclusively 
  on 
  the 
  buds 
  of 
  willow. 
  a 
  

  

  The 
  flesh 
  of 
  the 
  spruce 
  grouse 
  is 
  dark 
  and 
  for 
  the 
  table 
  is 
  in 
  no 
  way 
  

   comparable 
  to 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  blue 
  grouse. 
  Xor 
  is 
  the 
  bird 
  equal 
  to 
  the 
  

   latter 
  as 
  an 
  object 
  of 
  sport. 
  It 
  is. 
  however, 
  a 
  thing 
  of 
  beauty 
  in 
  the 
  

   dark 
  northern 
  coniferous 
  forests, 
  where 
  its 
  aesthetic 
  value 
  must 
  impress 
  

   every 
  lover 
  of 
  nature. 
  This 
  grouse 
  is 
  strictly 
  a 
  forest 
  bird, 
  and 
  no- 
  

   where 
  appears 
  to 
  come 
  into 
  contact 
  with 
  agriculture. 
  

  

  THE 
  FRANKLIN 
  GROUSE. 
  

  

  (Canachites 
  franklini.) 
  

  

  The 
  Franklin 
  grouse 
  is 
  very 
  similar 
  to 
  its 
  near 
  relative, 
  the 
  spruce 
  

   grouse, 
  and 
  differs 
  mainly 
  in 
  the 
  conspicuous 
  white 
  marking 
  on 
  its 
  

   upper 
  tail 
  coverts 
  and 
  in 
  lacking 
  the 
  rufous 
  tip 
  to 
  the 
  tail. 
  It 
  is 
  

   found 
  in 
  the 
  mountains 
  of 
  western 
  Montana 
  and 
  Idaho, 
  westward 
  to 
  

   the 
  coast 
  ranges 
  of 
  Oregon 
  and 
  Washington 
  and 
  northward 
  through 
  

   British 
  Columbia 
  to 
  southern 
  Alaska. 
  Major 
  Bendire 
  records 
  

   that 
  nidification 
  occurs 
  during 
  the 
  last 
  of 
  May 
  and 
  in 
  June. 
  The 
  

   food 
  habits 
  of 
  the 
  bird 
  are 
  similar 
  to 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  spruce 
  grouse. 
  In 
  

   Alberta, 
  between 
  August 
  25 
  and 
  September 
  1, 
  1894, 
  J. 
  A. 
  Loring, 
  a 
  

   field 
  agent 
  of 
  the 
  Biological 
  Survey, 
  examined 
  the 
  crops 
  of 
  several 
  

   Franklin 
  grouse 
  and 
  found 
  in 
  them 
  berries 
  and 
  leaves. 
  A. 
  H. 
  How- 
  

   ell, 
  also 
  of 
  the 
  Survey, 
  examined 
  crops 
  and 
  gizzards 
  in 
  Idaho 
  during 
  

   the 
  last 
  of 
  September, 
  1895, 
  and 
  found 
  in 
  them 
  large 
  quantities 
  of 
  the 
  

   leaA^es 
  of 
  the 
  lodge-pole 
  pine 
  (Pinus 
  murrayana) 
  broken 
  into 
  bits 
  

   from 
  one-fourth 
  to 
  three-fourths 
  of 
  an 
  inch 
  long. 
  Major 
  Bendire 
  

   notes 
  that 
  in 
  summer 
  they 
  furnish 
  Indians 
  and 
  packers 
  with 
  

   their 
  principal 
  supply 
  of 
  fresh 
  meat. 
  Their 
  flesh 
  is 
  palatable 
  then 
  

   because 
  they 
  eat 
  grasshoppers 
  and 
  berries 
  and 
  feed 
  less 
  freely 
  on 
  the 
  

   buds 
  and 
  leaves 
  of 
  spruce 
  and 
  tamarack.^ 
  

  

  Hon. 
  Theodore 
  Roosevelt 
  writes 
  of 
  this 
  bird 
  in 
  Montana 
  : 
  c 
  

  

  The 
  mountain 
  men 
  call 
  this 
  bird 
  the 
  fool-hen 
  : 
  and 
  most 
  certainly 
  it 
  deserves 
  

   the 
  name. 
  The 
  members 
  of 
  this 
  particular 
  flock, 
  consisting 
  of 
  a 
  hen 
  and 
  her 
  

   three-parts 
  grown 
  chicks, 
  acted 
  with 
  a 
  stupidity 
  unwonted 
  even 
  for 
  their 
  kind. 
  

   They 
  were 
  feeding 
  on 
  the 
  ground 
  among 
  some 
  young 
  spruce, 
  and 
  on 
  our 
  

   approach 
  flew 
  up 
  and 
  perched 
  in 
  the 
  branches, 
  four 
  or 
  five 
  feet 
  above 
  our 
  heads. 
  

   There 
  they 
  stayed, 
  uttering 
  a 
  low 
  complaining 
  whistle, 
  and 
  showed 
  not 
  the 
  

   slightest 
  suspicion 
  when 
  we 
  came 
  underneath 
  them 
  with 
  long 
  sticks 
  and 
  knocked 
  

   them 
  off 
  their 
  perches. 
  

  

  "Nelson, 
  Nat. 
  Hist. 
  Coll. 
  Alaska, 
  p. 
  130, 
  1887 
  (1888). 
  

   fc 
  Life 
  Hist. 
  N. 
  A. 
  Birds, 
  [I], 
  p. 
  58. 
  1892. 
  

   c 
  The 
  Wilderness 
  Hunter, 
  p. 
  116, 
  1893. 
  

  

  