FISHERIES, GAME AND FORESTS. 315 



temporarily poisonous for man, and the fact that the birds' food directly affects their 

 flesh is exemplified in the delicious aromatic flavor of grouse that have been feeding 

 extensively upon birch buds and wintergreens, the grateful odor pervading the 

 whole house when such birds are so unfortunate as to get upon the hot kitchen stove 

 just before dinner time." (Dr. R. T. Morris, in " Hopkins Pond and Other Sketches.") 



Enemies. 



The greatest enemies of this valuable bird are insect pests, hawks, owls, foxes, 

 raccoons, lynxes, skunks, squirrels, cats, dogs, etc. The snowy owl {Nyctea 7iyctea), 

 being diurnal as well as nocturnal, is an especial enemy of the grouse, as is also the 

 American goshawk {Accipiter atricapilliis). 



Specimens of the goshawk have been received at Cornell University containing 

 the remains of the ruffed grouse, and in February, 1896, one was shot in the 

 Adirondacks by Mr. Ezra Cornell, Jr., while in the act of devouring a rufifed grouse 

 which it had just killed. 



The wolf {Cafiis lupus) is now too rare in the State of New York to be considered 

 an important enemy of this bird, but the red fox {Vulpes vulpcs) is by far too 

 abundant in almost all parts of the State, and appears to make this bird one of its 

 choice articles of diet. 



The remains of several grouse were found at a fox den near Danby, N. Y., in March, 

 1897, ^nd in many other cases it has been known to fall prey to reynard. Like all 

 other carnivorous mammals, the fox not only eats the adult birds when it can catch 

 them, but delights in an opportunity to surprise a flock of half-grown or very young 

 birds, and even devours the eggs while they are in the nest, lying by the nest in wait 

 for the old bird herself. 



The fox will scent a brood of young birds and follow them for a long time, even 

 until nightfall, when it will spring among them after they have stopped for the night 

 and play fearful havoc with the covey. Sometimes it will learn the direction the 

 birds are moving, and by a circuitous route establish itself in front of them, lying in 

 wait concealed in a clump of bushes or weeds. When the birds come within reach, it 

 will snap right and left and secure one or two fine birds as a prize for its cunning. 



The raccoon [Procj'on lotor) kills and eats the young birds especially, and loses no 

 opportunity to destroy a nest of eggs. 



Skunks {Mephitis mcp/iitica) are probably the greatest enemies of eggs in the nest, 

 and the destruction annually wrought by this means is beyond calculation or belief. 

 In fact, in certain localities more eggs are destroyed by skunks than are permitted to 

 remain and hatch. 



A serious enemy of the young grouse is a tick or fly of the entomological family 

 Hypoboscidcc. This miserable parasite fastens itself deeply into the skin and li\-es by 



