DIET 201 



black birch (B. tenia), and paper birch (B. papyrijera) in largest quantities. Two birds 

 collected from the Adirondacks, one in winter, the other in early spring, had consumed 728 

 and 1.150 buds and twig tips respectively. Even in the presence of an abundance of other 

 appetizing foods, birch buds are taken as early as September 18 and as late as May 11. 



To a forester, the hornbeams or ironwoods are weed trees, but every grouse knows they have 

 a place in its favorite covert. The leaves of ths hop-hornbeam or hardback (Ostrya virgini- 

 ana) are but seldom eaten and the early maturing fruits are utilized less than might be 

 expected. The smooth brown buds and particularly the flat-clustered staminate catkins furn- 

 ish a wealth of food which bulks large in many a grouse crop from October through April. 

 Up to 523 of the former and 820 of the latter have been identified from separate birds. The 

 smaller blue beech or hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana) is browsed less commonly, perhaps 

 because of its more slender branches. 



One shrub, the hazelnut (Corylus). also a member of the birch family, is sometimes visited 

 by grouse in search of buds or of the staminate anieiits borne at the end of last year's twigs. 

 More adventurous birds may even assay to swallow the large slightly-flattened fruits. 



The Willow Family. Among the trees and shrubs no family is more widely distributed than 

 are the willows and poplars (Salicaceae). It is, then, fortunate that grouse browse upon 

 them. The large buds, long catkins, and tough leaves set on the stout twigs of the aspens 

 (Populus) are [jarticular favorites even when other food is abundant. Bendire" notes, "The 

 Canadian ruffed grouse, according to Mr. Hardy, feeds not alone on the ])oplar buds but 

 also on the hard old leaves. He writes me, 'I have killed one with his croji filled with such 

 leaves on the 20th of August, and they eat them continuously until the leaves have fallen in 

 late October.' " Green leaves, too. are not overlooked, for they had been commonly taken by 

 the birds studied from April 21 until late November. Leaf-browsing thus overlaps the bud- 

 ding period at both ends. In the Adirondacks, aspen budding begins as early as September 

 18 and continues at least until May 17. On January 6. one bird made a full meal of 1,300 

 trembling aspen (P. tremuloides) buds and twigs. Its larger-leaved cousin (P. grandiden- 

 lata) is equally attractive. 



The willows (Salix). though seldom important as a source of food are not entirely passed 

 by. Of this group, grouse, in common with children, may prefer the pussy willow (Salix 

 discolor), judging from the 636 buds picked off by one bird collected on December 13. 



The Beech Family. Were it not that abundant crops of beechnuts and acorns are produced 

 only once in three or four years, the beech family (Fagaceae) would be outstanding as a 

 producer of fall and winter grouse food (table 26). In the Northeast, coincident with the 

 falling of the leaves, grouse-wise hunters often head for the beech ridges if it be a mast 

 year. There the birds may have been feeding among the beeches (Fagiis grandijolia) since 

 early September. For the next two months, beechnuts, close-housed in their burrs or shucked 

 out on the snow, are seldom overlooked. But it is the previous fall's crop revealed by March 

 and April's shrinking snows that are really appreciated. Following a beechnut year, they 

 rank sixth in the list of spring foods. 



Occasionally these nuts are eaten in numbers. Bendire'" mentions "finding 76 in one bird's 

 crop and 60 in another". These were Canadian birds. Beech is a common tree in New York 

 but no such heavy utilization has been found by the Investigation, though Smyth*" records 

 finding one crop collected December 8, that contained 78 nuts. While occasionally found as 

 the sole cro]) contents, beechnuts are commonlv eaten along with other items. One bird col- 

 lected near Elniira on November 5 had gathered 20 fruits of highbush cranberry (Viburnum 



