STUDIES OF GROUSE FOODS 



183 



Food is one of the cardinal factors that determine the abundance of any wildlife 

 species. Food shortages have long been considered a paramount cause of wildlife scar- 

 city. Corrective measures, for the most part, have been quite inadequate, although usual- 

 ly dramatic enough to appeal to nature lover and sportsman alike. 



As a result, studies of grouse food habits, ranging all the way from the penknife ex- 

 amination of a bird killed in the field to the most careful laboratory analysis, have furn- 

 ished an informative but haphazard picture of what grouse eat at various periods and over 

 many parts of their range. 



STUDIES OF GROUSE FOODS 



The first extensive survey of grouse food habits was Sylvester D. Judd's analysis of 208 

 crops and stomachs gathered from widely separated parts of the bird's range. Fall food 

 habits of New England grouse have been admirably described by Gross' '^ Nelson, Clarke 

 and Bailey""" have published the results of a small but thorough sampling of adults collect- 

 ed in Novemlier and December in the George Washington National Forest, largely in Vir- 

 ginia. Under the direction of Dr. A. A. Allen. Thomas Smyth"" prepared an excellent thesis 

 on the food habits of the ruffed grouse I mostly fall and winter adults I with special emphasis 

 on the region about Ithaca. N. Y. Local reports have been produced by MacGregor"" for 

 New Hampshire. Kuhn"'" for Pennsylvania, and Chaddock"' for Wisconsin. Unfortunately 

 most investigators have been largely dependent for specimens on birds shot during the 

 hunting season; thus there is a dearth of infurinalidii fnr oilier periods of the year. The food 

 of grouse chicks has received little attention ex(e]il li\ llic i iirrenl study. 



The situation nia\ best be visualized by glancing ihrmigli table 19 identifying the more 

 comprehensive grouse food investigations. 



TABLE 19. MAJOR STUDIES OF THE FOOD HABITS OF RUFFED GROUSE 



•Collected by the N. Y. S. Ruffed Grouse Investigation and examined for it by the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. They are 



accordingly utilized in compiling the results of the Investigation's food habits work. 

 ADroppings only examined. 



