Spruce Grouse, cartoon by Kevin Wallace.

The Spruce Grouse “remains so woefully ignorant of the destructive nature of the human animal that, unlike its cousin, the ruffed grouse, it rarely learns to run or fly away, but allows itself to be shot, clubbed, or noosed, and, in consequence, has earned for itself the proud title of “fool hen”. As a result, wherever man appears, the spruce grouse rapidly diminishes in numbers, and, in the vicinity of villages or outlying posts, is not to be found.” (Arthur Cleveland Bent. 1932. Life histories of North American Gallinaceous Birds. Dover Publications, Inc., New York.)