fool hen

noun

any of various grouse, as the spruce grouse, that can be killed easily because of their relative tameness.

Origin of fool hen

First recorded in 1750–60

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

I suppose you didn't notice if you hit that fool-hen, Colonel Cruickshank?
Gold, Gold, in Cariboo!
Clive Phillipps-Wolley
This evening luck had deserted his fishing, so the trapper took a rifle and went into the woods after a fool-hen.
The Maid of the Whispering Hills
Vingie E. Roe
If a poor cackling grouse or "fool-hen" be thrust into the pit, the Indian is almost sure to find a prisoner.
The Story of the Trapper
A. C. Laut