FIRST DESCRIPTION 3 



As early as 1632, Thomas Morloir"", early advcnlurer and Indian trader, records seeing 40 

 "rouse in a single tree, an indication of their abundance at that time. Later Nicholas Denys", 

 French representative in Nova Scotia, in 1672. reports their tails were used as fans in France. 

 He tried twice to transport the birds there, "but when approaching France, they die; which 

 has made me believe that our air must be contrary to their good." Despite the tendency for 

 early observers to confuse the spruce grouse with our ruffed grouse, it seems fairly certain 

 that Baron de Lahontan"' was referring to the latter when in 1703, in his "Some New Voyages 

 to America", he comments on the abundance and stupidity of what he called the woods hen, 

 "for they sat upon the trees in flocks and were killed one after another without offering to 

 stir", writes the Baron, who added that this phenomenon was the most comical thing he had 

 seen in America. 



Less sure are we that Abbott' was not confusing this si)e(ies with the eastern heath hen, 

 when he indicated that, in the closing years of the eighteenth century "these birds used to con- 

 gregate by the thousands" in the swamps of central New Jersey. Here it was common sport 

 to surround them and either shoot or net them in huge numbers. 



That the grouse unwittingly pla\cd still other parts in the lives of the early settlers is 

 gathered from many a record. One unusual instance will suffice. Rumor had early linked 

 deposits of desirable metals— lead and iron— with New York's Adirondack Mountains'". His 

 vessel becalmed one warm day near Red Rocks on Lake Champlain. ski|)per A. M. Martin 

 crooked his arm around his gun and sallied forth in quest of partridges and a change of diet. 

 Following a bird that had flushed, he tried to pull himself up over a small ledge by grabbing 

 a small bush. When this pulled loose, it uncovered a dark, interesting-looking stone. Stick- 

 ing it into his pocket, he hurried on. Later he sent it to Ticonderoga. there to be recognized as 

 high-grade iron ore. Thus were the Penfield iron deposits discovered. 



FIRST DESCRIPTION 



Explorers and the colonists that followed ihcni were, for the most part, men "f action and 

 of the land. Few among them were interested in the natural sciences. It is not surprising, 

 therefore, to find that the grouse, in common with many another bird, did not receive taxono- 

 mic recognition until a century and a (juarlcr had passed. John Bartram. an enthusiastic 

 traveler, sent a letter to England, in 1 7.S0. recounting some habits of the bird. This was 

 accompanied by a specimen which was described In Edwards, a British naturalist" . This 

 eventually became the type specimen because on the basis of this account. Liimaeus included 

 the species in his Systema Naturae™ which has since been designated as the foundation of 

 modern nomenclature. 



NAMES BY WHICH IT IS KNOWN 



What's in a name? That which we (all a rose 

 Bv any other name would smell as sweet. 



Shakespeare 



So it is with our native ruffed grouse. This bird carries such a myriad of names so diverse in 

 meaning that a casual glance at a list of them might create the impression it represented 

 several species, rather than one. The unwary "fool hen"* of wilderness areas is the alert 

 "king of game birds" where heavily hunted. The "pine hen" of the west, the "birch partridge" 

 of the Northeast and the "spruce-woods rufliled grouse" of our northern climate are one and 



* ^..^v iiinr.- roiiiIiMniU upplicd to the spruce protise. 



