SPOTTED GROUSE. 391 
and dark cedar swamps, in winter resorting to the deep forests 
of spruce, to feed on the tops and leaves of these evergreens, 
as well as on the seeds contained in their cones, and on juni- 
per berries. Hence their flesh, though at all times good, is 
much better in summer, as in winter it has a strong flavour 
of spruce. At Hudson’s Bay, where they are called indiffer- 
ently wood or spruce partridge, they are seen throughout the 
year. Like other grouse, they build on the ground, laying 
perhaps fewer eggs; these are varied with white, yellow, and 
black. They are easily approached, being unsuspicious, and 
by no means so shy as the common ruffed grouse, and are killed 
or trapped in numbers, without much artifice being necessary 
for this purpose. When much disturbed, like their kindred 
species, they are apt to resort to trees, where, by using the 
precaution of always shooting the lowest, the whole of the 
terrified flock may be brought down to the last bird. 
The spotted grouse is smaller than the common partridge or 
pheasant, being but fifteen inches in length. The bill is black, 
seven-eighths of aninch long. The general colour of the plu- 
mage is made up of black and grey, mingled in transverse 
wavy crescents, with a few of greyish rufous on the neck. 
The small feathers covering the nostrils are deep velvety 
black. The feathers may all be called black as to the ground 
colour, and blackish plumbeous at the base; on the crown, 
upper sides of the head above the eye, and the anterior portion 
of the neck, they have each two grey bands or small crescents, 
and tipped with a third ; these parts, owing to the grey margin 
of the feathers being very broad, appear nearly all grey ; these 
longer feathers of the lower part of the neck above, and be- 
tween the shoulders, are more broadly and deeply black, each 
with a reddish band, and grey only at tip; the lowest have 
even two reddish bands, which pass gradually into greyish ; a 
few of the lateral feathers of the neck are almost pure white ; 
all the remaining feathers of the upper parts of the body have 
two greyish bands, besides a slight tip of the same colour ;- 
some of the lowest and longest having even three of these 
