Plumage gray, white and black, with a few rusty markings on the back; wide gray band on tip of tail. Female smaller, browner and more barred above. These large grouse are found on side hills or in gulches, usually not far from water. Like our common [Ruffed Grouse], during mating season, the males of this species strut about with tail fully spread over the back, and head thrown back until it nearly touches the tail. At this season they are very pugnacious and the woods will resound with their challenging “toots,”—loud and hollow sounds with a ventriloquial effect.
Nest.—Eggs laid on ground in woods, usually under fallen logs or at the bases of trees; buffy, sparsely spotted with brown (2.00 × 1.40); May, June.
Range.—Rocky Mts., from Mexico to Montana and east to South Dakota. 297b., Richardson Grouse (D. o. richardsonii), is found on the eastern slopes of the Rockies, north to British America. Little or no band on the tail.
HUDSONIAN SPRUCE GROUSE
298. Canachites canadensis. 15 in.
Very similar to the next, which is our common species, but the female is not quite as rusty. Found in Labrador and about Hudson Bay.
CANADA GROUSE; SPRUCE GROUSE
298c. C. c. canace. 15 in.
Male black and grayish; female chiefly rusty, barred with black. The Spruce Grouse is usually found in dense thickets and groves or swamps of evergreen woods. It is one of the least suspicious of birds, and in winter, is sometimes knocked down by sticks in the hands of deer hunters. Their flesh is unfit to eat and consequently they are not hunted.