5U THE HFECIES—ITS TAXONOMY, RANGE, BIOLOGY, & ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE 



On the other hand, limited populations are found in certain quite isolated tracts of cover 

 associated chiefly with outliers of the Rocky Mountain s)stem, such as the Black Hills of 

 Wyoming and South Dakota, the Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming and Montana, the Sweet- 

 grass Hills of northwestern Montana, and the White Pine, and Ruby Mountains of northern 

 PSevada. It was also reported in 1921"^" from the Lone Pine Hills of southeastern Montana. 



Furthermore, the species exliibits an interesting island distribution. In most cases, where 

 islands having suitable cover have been unoccupied, the reason seems to lie in the flight limits 

 of the bird which apparently are restricted to between ten and 15 miles. Thus the species 

 was absent from Newfoundland, 45 miles from St. Pauls Island, and Anticosti*, 2U miles 

 from the Mingans™'. Neither does it seem to have reached Isle Royal, 15 miles from shore in 

 Lake Superior. But it did establish itself on Prince Edward Island, requiring a flight of only 

 ten miles, and on Grand Manan Island only slightly less distant from shore, as well as Nan- 

 tucket and Marthas Vineyard. Similarly, it reached Vancouver Island off the coast of British 

 Columbia. At present, however, grouse have disappeared from Nantucket and Marthas Vine- 

 yard and are found on Grand Manan only as the result of successful restocking in 1925. 



Under primitive conditions, a few grouse managed to eke out an existence in the brushy 

 cover which penetrated the edge of the plains region along the streams of eastern Kansas, 

 Nebraska and the Dakotas as well as along the eastern base of the Rockies. 



Similarly, a scattered population existed throughout the irregular checkerboard of cover 

 which was found over much of the prairie country bordering the Great Plains and extending 

 eastward to Ohio and Kentucky. Here, timber grew along the streams as well as in groves 

 over the rolling uplands. Wooded swamps were frequent while considerable areas of open 

 grassland were also interspersed throughout the region. On the other hand, in the Ozark 

 and Ouachita Mountains of Missouri and Arkansas, the titnber was more extensive and grouse 

 range accordingly more uniform. Yet, apparently they were never recorded from the Cypress 

 Hills of southwestern Saskatchewan although they have recently been introduced there. 



It has been in this region of more or less marginal environment that the greatest shrinkage 

 in grouse range has occurred. Although highly adaptable, the birds have not been able to 

 withstand the extensive land clearing, burning and grazing which accompanied settlement 

 and agricultural development. The changes wrought by these operations were largely com- 

 plete by 1900 but a scattered population of grouse continued to linge;- on for many years, 

 chiefly in swamps and the more inaccessible hill sections (figure 2). In the Ozarks, a number 

 of records were reported by Bennitt and Nagel'" in 1934 and at the present time a few scat- 

 tered birds are believed to persist*^. The situation in Iowa is similar. In Illinois, grouse 

 have in general been unreported for over a decade but in 1937+ a lone observation was re- 

 corded in Pope County just across the river from Kentucky. In south central Indiana they 

 still persist in a small area and are said to be extending their range. In Kentucky, also, a 

 recent report' slates they are ro-occupying former territory. 



Elsewhere there has bi-cii coiniiaratively little reduction. In the Rockies, grouse |i..|.Mlatioii> 

 have always been sparse. Many of the early exiiedilioiis to ihis region failed to record a 

 single specimen. Yet they apparently occurred in small lunnliers over a (■(>iisiderai)le area. 

 The general situation seems to have undergone scant change, luil in Colorado no records' 

 since that of Sclater*" in 1899 have come to light and it appears th;it the species is no longer 



• Crnniip wt-r.- f»iKfT««fiiIlv inlrn.lucrd nn thi* Itlond in 1911. .... i i .. 



A K.lim.tr.I I.V nrnnilt. R.. l'r..f. Zoology, Univcr.ily ol Mi..,niri. at nol .,v,T 100 cl.i.iv,. o( rrcciil Lbrmlion.. ,.T...n»l Irtlrr 



to !he authors, Jonunry 23, 19.t2, 

 t Vpattpr, R. K.. nrrsonal Ir-ttfr tn llii* uiitlmm. Jjiniinrv !.'>. 1912. 



t IPailFT, l\. r,,. JPi-imiliui ii-ii.-i 1 "". "• J "- .■ - -- 



t Walcrfirlil, S. W.. iicrnoiml lrtt.T to tlir oiithnrH. .\pril 2, 1942. 



} Hcrjtold"', in 1928, nolo it m a "rare resident" but li«t« no specific observations. 



