SUMMARY 109 



Upon being flushed, birds normally fly only a short distance before alighting. Males do 

 not usually fly a greater distance than females upon flushing, (p. 167). 



Two-thirds of all the birds flushed may be expected to alight in trees, (p. 168). 



The quality of a habitat is roughly proportional to the variety in the composition and arrange- 

 ment of its component cover types, (p. 168). 



The poorer the covert, the greater the need for "edges." (p. 173). 



In highly productive coverts, such a relationship is less evident possibly because the 

 varied composition within many types creates a diversification of cover, (p. 173). 



Solid blocks of coniferous reforestation are used but little by grouse except along the edges, 

 (p. 174). 



Selective lumbering improves most grouse covers unless the conifers are thereby largely 

 eliminated, (p. 176). 



Where forest cover is dense and extensive, the clear-cutting of small areas may profitably be 

 used to provide summer and fall feeding grounds, (p. 178). 



To every hunter of grouse, fall brings a recurring puzzle — in what cover will one find the 

 most birds? The answer is by no means easy, for grouse are hardy individualists, and expe- 

 rience does not always point the way. But, with study, patience and careful correlation of 

 such items as the type of cover, season, slope, time of day, wind and weather, certain pref- 

 erence patterns can be recognized and catalogued. Many a bird-wise sportsman has con- 

 sciously done this for his favorite hunting coverts, using such general terms as woods' edges, 

 overgrown land, open land and evergreen thickets. 



In the more exact terminology of the investigator these cover groupings become vegetative 

 cover types. It is his job to recognize and evaluate the multitude of natural climatic, physio- 

 graphic and biotic factors and, through repeated observation, to uncover gradually the often 

 complex part each plays in influencing the survival of the bird. 



The effect on grouse of each of these groups has been studied in some detail. The birds are 

 tolerant of a wide variation of climatic factors — atmosphere, temperature and light. With a 

 few exceptions, neither rain nor wind, snow nor drought, cold nor warmth, seem seriously to 

 influence their survival. Physiographic features — slope aspect and degree — seem likewise of 

 minor direct importance. Birds may be found in goodly numbers on steep slopes or flat 

 lands irrespective of the compass direction the slope may face, providing the proper cover is 

 present. Indirectly, of course, these factors usually play a commanding part with soil in 

 determining the character of the third group, the biotic or plant and animal associations pres- 

 ent. It is this group that largely decides whether grouse survive, become abundant or dis- 

 appear. 



Let us carry this a step further. As between plants and animals, it is the former that are 

 by all means more important in maintaining high grouse populations. Good cover means 

 fewer losses from predators and probably from disease as well. In other words its "carry- 

 ing capacity" is higher. One must, therefore, learn to recognize the important components 



