FISHERIES, GAME AND EORESTS. 



313 



RUFFED GROUSE ON NEST. (PHOTOGRAPHED BY GRANVILLE HILLS.) 



It has been known to nest 

 in the central part of this 

 . State as early as the first of 

 April, but this is rather un- 

 usual, as the nesting season 

 for this species usually com- 

 mences about the first of 

 May. These birds have ap- 

 parently learned the possible 

 dangers to which their brood 

 would be exposed by late 

 snows and frosts, and so they 

 delay the nesting until tlie 

 signs of the times denote the 

 certainty of spring weather. 

 A remarkable feature of this 

 bird is the fact that it often chooses its nesting site quite near the paths or road- 

 ways of man, depending upon its protective coloration for concealment. During 

 the past year several nests have been seen very near to well-trodden paths. The 

 nest is usually but a slight excavation in the ground near a tree, log, or rock, slightly 

 lined with dead leaves, dry grass, or pine needles. From eight to sixteen eggs are 

 laid in one nest. They are ovate in form and average 1.65 x 1.25 of an inch in size, 



in color varying from milky 

 white to pinkish buff. Many 

 are spotted with small round- 

 ed dots, varying from brown 

 or drab to reddish, although 

 many are seen that are not 

 at all speckled or spotted. 



The young hatch from the 

 eggs in eighteen to twenty- 

 four days and are able to run 

 from the nest at once, being 

 what are technically known 

 as precocial birds. Now, let 

 appear on the scene an ob- 

 ject supposed to be an enemy 



RUFFED GROUSE NEST. (PHOTOGRAPHED BY GRANVILLE HILLS.) and SCC hoW the yOUng 



