198 



FOOD HABITS AND REQUIREMENTS 



grouse in his favorite coverts. Yet this is the foi)d pattern by which grouse live earh year 

 over a wide range. As such it is well worth considering in some detail. Most of the plants 

 and animals here listed are well known sources of food, luil the j)art whirh these plav in i)ro- 

 viding grouse food is often not ai)preciated. For the sake of clarity the two groups are dis- 

 cussed separately. 



Plant Foods. 



It would he dillicult in the Northeast to walk far through an over-grown or wooded area 

 without seeing plants on which grouse feed. The 414 different species so far identified are 

 distributed among 65 families, although the bulk of the food is taken from about 20 of these. 

 They include: one family of ferns, one each of grasses and sedges, six largelv herbs, five 

 mainly shrubs, one family of vines and five of trees. Certain of these, for exani|)le. the rose 

 family, have representatives among each of the four groups — trees, shrubs, herbs, and vines. 



TABLE 2.3. SOURCES OF PLANT AND AN LNLVL FOODS THAT BULKED LARGEST IN THE DIET 

 OF 1,093 ADULT GROUSE IN NEW YORK— SUMMARY OF ALL SEASONS, 1931-1941 



Foods 



PLANT.S (0(t.9 per cent) 



Aspen ( P<ii>nlitx) 



( '.hcrrv ( Pniiiii.i) 



Krrh'i lift Ilia) 



BlaiklMTpy and rMS[)l>eTry (Rtibus). . 



Hop-hornlieiiiii (O.slrvd) 



Thornapplc {( 'niliii'dus) 



Strnwl)('rry (Frwiaria) 



Apple (A/n/u,«) 



Beech (Fmius) 



Sumach ( Hhiis) 



Sliii(ll)iisli ( \ inelanchier) 



Scdfje (Carex) 



Vihurmim (Viburnum) 



Maple (Acer) 



Do;;wo(»l (Cornus) 



( )ak lOucrcus) 



Laurel ( l\iihiii<i) 



lla/rltiiit (Coryliis) 



WOod fern {Dryopteris) 



AiM('ri<aii hornbi'ain (('(ir/iiiiu.i) . . . . 



(Jrape (I'/V/.v) 



Pussy's tors I Anicnndrid) 



Barren slrawlxTry (W dldsleinia) 



Slii'cp sorrel ( liuint'T) 



Partri(if,'e-berrv (M ilchi-lla) 



ANIMALS (I. I per .m'mI) 



Insects: 



Ants, wasps, clc. (Hyiiii'iioptcia). . 



Brcllcs (Ciili'dplrra) 



Mollis ( l,i'pl<l()pliTa) 



( irassliiippiTs (()rllinpliTa) 



Bu^'s (llc'iulpliTa and 1 louiiiplcra). 



Other iuse<'ls 



Spiders and allies (Araehnida) 



Snuil.s (Gu.slropoda) 



Volumetric 

 percentage 



12.1 



in.() 



').2 

 «.K 

 .3.7 

 I..3 



3.8 

 3.3 

 2.7 

 2..'> 

 2.3 

 2.0 

 2.0 

 \.h 

 l.ft 



1.1 

 1.2 

 1.0 

 1.0 

 1.0 

 .<) 

 .K 



.5 

 IrnceA 



.1 

 .1 



Number of birds 

 ID which found* 



2lt 

 118 

 232 

 282 

 112 

 :!i I 



l'»T 

 81 

 101 

 2.'>l 

 101 

 2(1.3 



I 12 

 I7>» 

 ()1 

 30 

 63 

 75 

 87 

 88 

 16 

 26 

 16 

 213 



312 

 226 

 43 

 79 

 71 

 68 

 123 

 13 



•Arliiiil niiiiihrr (jf occurmirrs of (he k<'i>iik or onlrr; niniiy binU hud entoii murf Ihnii 



nun stprrirs. 

 ALciUi tliuii 0.1 |HT cent. 



