. . ucester September, 1851.^ It was once common, however,in the spruce and tamarack woods of northern New Englandand New York, from most of which it has disappeared, andit is now found in large numbers only in the fastnesses of theconiferous forests of Canada. I can remember when it wascommon in some of the Maine woods, and when it was seennot uncommonly in Massachusetts markets. Knight (1908)states that it still occurs as a rare resident in the more woodedand less inhabited parts of Maine. Eaton (1910) says thatit was formerly comm
. . ucester September, 1851.^ It was once common, however,in the spruce and tamarack woods of northern New Englandand New York, from most of which it has disappeared, andit is now found in large numbers only in the fastnesses of theconiferous forests of Canada. I can remember when it wascommon in some of the Maine woods, and when it was seennot uncommonly in Massachusetts markets. Knight (1908)states that it still occurs as a rare resident in the more woodedand less inhabited parts of Maine. Eaton (1910) says thatit was formerly common in the Adirondack woods, but is nowthreatened with extermination in New York. ]\Iuch moreevidence of its destruction and decrease might be given. Indestroying this bird we have not even the excuse that it is atable delicacy, for its flesh is strongly impregnated with thetaste of spruce buds; nor the other stock excuse that it was 1 Allen, J. A.: Amer. Nat., February, 1870, Vol. III., No. 12, p. 636. 2 Putnam, F. W.: Proc. Essex. Inst., 1856, Vol. I, p. BIRDS HUNTED FOR FOOD OR SPORT. 377 injuring our crops, for it never touched them. It was extir-pated because it was tame and confiding and an easy mark,giving the gunner or the backwoods loafer a chance to unloadhis gun and kill something. Formerly this bird sometimesassembled in great flocks. Mr. Manly Hardy of Brewer, Me.,is quoted by Dr. Bendire as saying that a pack of many thou-sands was utilized by a tribe of Indians in Nova Scotia to feedthe whole village. The male has a curious habit of drumming in flight orwhile climbing the leaning trunk of a tree. The female sitsso closely on her eggs that she will almost allow herself to betaken from the nest by hand. Mr. Watson L. Bishop of Kent-ville, N. S., has succeeded in domesticating this bird. In summer the Spruce Partridge feeds much on the foliageof spruce and fir, and on berries and insects; the winter foodconsists largely of the buds of the evergreen trees among
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