(Plate XL) 
THE CANADA GROUSE. 
Tetrao canadensis, Linnaeus. 
The Spruce Partridge or Canada Grouse is chiefly a boreal 
bird, reaching but a little way over our border. It is common in 
the coniferous woods of Canada and Northern New England, 
and in Minnesota, wherever there are forests. On the Upper 
Missouri and among the dense forests of British Columbia a va¬ 
riety of this grouse, known as Franklins , takes the place of the 
Eastern type, from which it differs only in wanting the orange- 
brown tail-band, and in having the upper tail-coverts, which are 
plain in true canadensis, conspicuously spotted with white. 
It is only in the most out-of-the-way districts that the beautiful 
Spruce Partridge is found. It seems to have little sagacity in 
preserving its safety, and is so easily killed, when once it has been 
found, that little sport is afforded, d he ordinary — and, in those 
backwoods, perhaps the only practicable — method used is to 
scour the woods with a cur dog, and thus frighten the birds into 
trees, to which the gunner is directed by the barking of the whiffet, 
and whence he can shoot his timid victims one by one, with little 
difficulty. The Western variety is even so stupid that you may 
walk near, and, reaching up with a slender pole, put a noose 
around its neck, and so bring it ignominiously to your feet. No 
wonder the mountain men call it “ Fool-bird !” 
The summer haunt of our subject is Maine, among the hackma¬ 
tack woods, which are as difficult to traverse as the most taw bed 
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swamps of Labrador. The ground is covered with verdant moss, 
over which the grouse can lightly walk, but into which the gunner 
sinks deep at every step, while struggling through the trunks of 
dead trees, branches of greenwood, and low bushes. “ Proud, gal¬ 
lant, and assiduous to the females in early spring, as soon as incu¬ 
bation has commenced the males repair to another forest and do 
not return to the females until late in the autumn, when the young 
are reared. In this retreat the males are very wary and shy." The 
nest is made on the ground under the shelter of some low ever¬ 
green, and consists of a bed of twigs, dry leaves, and moss, on 
which the iernale deposits from a dozen to twenty eggs, of a dark 
fawn color irregularly spattered with different tints of brown. In¬ 
cubation begins about the first of June. Nearly three weeks' 
sitting is required to hatch them, and the brow-n fluffy little chicks 
follow the mother as soon as they are born. Only one brood is 
raised each season. 
“ Often, when one is fishing from a canoe in some of the narrow 
brooks in Maine or in Canada," says Mr. Whitehead, “ a brood of 
these birds will be seen threading their way among the bushes, or, 
il the weather is hot, coming to the water to drink. So great is their 
remoteness from man that they scarcely notice the passing boat. 
At times like these they make use of a little piping cluck that is 
most gentle and familiar, by which the old bird calls the young 
ones of the flock to her whenever she finds any attractive food in 
the rotten wood or among the fallen mast. Again they may be 
seen among the upper branches of the tallest spruce, picking the 
winter buds, and at their great elevation looking as small as snow¬ 
birds. When pursued they take quickly to the trees, and seem to 
feed secure m their elevation, and are then easily shot In the 
coldest weather* when the caribou hunter is making his camp in 
the evening forest, when the deep snow creaks under his snow 
shoes, and the thermometer sinks to thirty degrees below zero In 
the still air, some of these graceful birds will come running over 
the snow r , familiar in the desolation, and contented and secure in 
their winter home, proving how apt for their position in life God's 
creatures are everyw here made. Once, returning to our log hut 
after an absence ol Several days on an exploring tour, w'e peered 
through the opening that Was left for the window-, and saw a brood 
of these glossy birds pecking about the floor and foraging on the 
remains of our feast. The}' crept into the empty flour-barrel, and 
pried into the tin meat-cans, and one old cock flitted upon the 
table and perched on the edge of a tin pan, His w-eight upset 
the dish, which clattered upon the floor, when the gay foragers, 
scared by the din, whir fed out of the open door like ‘a swarm of 
golden bees,’ taking refuge in the neighboring hemlocks. They 
were not disturbed by us, for such gentle spirits bring good luck 
to the hunter’s camp.” 
According to Audubon, these grouse perceive the approach of 
rain or snow with marvelous precision, and seek their roosting 
places at an unusually early hour on the evening before. This 
indication of impending storm is rarely or never a false forecast. 
The Spruce Partridges feed in summer upon young twdgs, blos¬ 
soms, and various berries, — particularly those of the Solomon’s 
Seal, w ; ith which they gorge themselves in the early autumn. It is 
at this time that they are in best condition for the table ; for in 
winter, when the birds arc forced to subsist upon the leaves of the 
spruce, larch, or hackmatack, and other sour and resinous food, 
their flesh becomes bitter and toutrh. 
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