SPOTTED GROUSE. 
497 
voluntarily to furnish, farther mentions, that he has heard 
from his father, that, during the progress of the expedition 
under Arnold, through the Wilderness to Quebec, in 1775, 
these grouse were occasionally shot between the tide waters 
of Kennebeck river and the sources of the Chaudiere, now 
forming part of the state of Maine. Fine specimens of the 
spotted grouse have been sent to the Lyceum of Natural His- 
tory of New York, from the Sault de Ste. Marie, by Mr 
Schoolcraft, whose exertions in availing himself of the oppor- 
tunities which his residence affords him, for the advancement 
of every branch of zoology, merit the highest praise. He in- 
forms us, that this bird is common from Lake Huron to the 
sources of the Mississippi, being called in the Chipeway lan- 
guage, mushcodasee, ^. e, partridge of the plains. 
The favourite haunts of the spotted grouse, are pine woods 
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 indifferently 
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 spe- 
cies, they are apt to resort to trees, where, by using the pre- 
caution of always shooting the lowest, the whole of the terri- 
fied 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 an inch 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. 
VOL. III. 2 I 
