PREtACE 



also brought us to realize how impotent we have been and still are to recognize and con- 

 trol all those forces affecting the abundance of any wildlife species with the knowledge and 

 means at hand. 



From its inception in 1930 lo the date of publication of this report, one idea has been 

 uppermost — to find ways and means of assuring the future of the ruffed grouse. Far from 

 proving an end in itself, the linestigation has. in reality, opened a gate upon vast and fer- 

 tile fields for future research. It is fortunate that there is always a challenge in the |)Iowin<i 

 of new furrows and the reseeding of the old. 



Our thirteen years of intensive exploration have indeed led us far afield, for man\ of the 

 management principles promulgated for improving grouse coverts are likewise applicable in 

 handling other game species. In fact these princi|>les have become an integral |)art of the wild- 

 life management practices which are helping the Fmpire State to maintain good hunting of 

 several species for some half a million outdoor-minded men. 



In presenting this xoliime the authors have attempted, in the first chapter, to correlate and 

 preserxe the saga of the ruffed grouse. Leavened with droll notes, for the most part left by 

 the \encral)le describers of another da\ . it will be found to furnish many a jileasant sourre 

 for ((iriicrturc. In the rest of the Miliinic. tlic suimiiai i/.ing nf the findings, and |iarti(U- 

 larly the interpretation of them in semi-lechnical terms in the form of management sugges- 

 tions, must be regarded as tentative rather th;in final. Ortaitd\ thex are open to modification 

 by whatever light ma) be shed u|i(in them li\ future research. 



If the biologists find, herein, a few new facts clearly presented; if the nature lovers are 

 reminded of pleasant da)s afield; if the sportsmen discover some ])ractical answers to many 

 puzzling questions and the wildlife managers a few helpful suggestions — our own game bag 

 will not hang slack nor will those who ha\e demonstrated an abiding faith in the solution 

 of the grouse problem go unrewarded. 



Mav 27. 1942 



Gardiner Bu.mp. 



Senior Aullioi 



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