A Pioneer History of Becker County. 
i 88 
The demand for game birds for the eastern markets well nigh 
caused the extermination of the ruffed, pinnated and sharp-tailed 
grouse by the market hunters, aided and abetted by traders in the 
villages. Since the sale of all game has been prohibited in Minne- 
in the woods. Limiting the open season, also the number that may 
be killed in a day, are factors that aid their protection. It will be 
necessary, however, to enact and enforce more stringent laws, else 
these birds will, like the buffalo, soon be exterminated. 
The ruffed grouse, the king of game birds of Minnesota, is 
found in all the timbered parts of Becker County. This splendid 
bird is also called “partridge” and “pheasant,” because of their 
resemblance to their European relatives. Dr. Cones says, “The 
bird itself is unmistakable; no other species has the conspicuous 
ruffle of lengthened, broad, soft, silky (purple-black) feathers on 
the neck.” No one who has heard the whirr of the ruffed grouse, 
when taking wing, could mistake this peculiar, startling sound for 
any other. Nor can one mistake the drumming sound made by 
the male bird, by rapidly vibrating his wings, while standing on 
a log or stump. The home of the ruffed grouse is in the wood¬ 
lands—in the summer they are found near openings and around 
berry patches, but as the leaves fall and winter approaches they 
seek the cover of heavy timber and wooded swamplands. They 
pair in the early spring; nest upon the ground in the shelter of brush, 
a fallen log or in a hollow between the roots of a tree. The num¬ 
ber of eggs varies from ten to sixteen; and the newly hatched 
chicks quickly hide under leaves or brush when the mother bird 
sounds the note of alarm. She will pretend to be wounded in 
order to lead an intruder from the vicinity of her brood, and will 
attack one who continues to approach after the little brown shadows 
have disappeared. 
No game bird is more difficult to shoot. Their colors blend 
so completely with their surroundings that it is difficult to dis¬ 
tinguish them until they are awing—then the hunter often has 
only a glimpse of a whirring, brown body, darting to the cover 
of nearby brush or timber. The flesh is white, extremely delicate, 
and highly prized. 
Comparatively little is known of the Canada grouse, or, as it 
is commonly named, the “spruce grouse” or “spruce hen.” This 
bird was also called the “fool hen” because it had not learned 
to fear man. With the approach of civilization it has retired to 
