FEEDING HABITS 185 



details of stomach analyses are in hand. This impression is heightened when one finds that 

 food shortages apparently are not directly limiting influences on populations of the rufFed 

 grouse. In fact, the Investigation has yet to examine its first bird, the death of which 

 could be attributed to starvation. Upon deeper analysis, however, less apparent food rela- 

 tionships are revealed which, in the long run, may affect grouse welfare much more than 

 does an occasional empty stomach. As with wildlife in general, even the simpler inter- 

 relationships of food with shelter, with predators, with diseases, with cycles and with the 

 ability of the species to reproduce, have heretofore been little recognized nor much investi- 

 gated. Not enough thought has been given to these less familiar effects in connection with 

 the study of food habits and requirements. Hence the Investigation has not limited its work 

 to a determination of what grouse eat nor of how much of each food item is consumed. 



Some of the correlations referred to are so complex and little understood as to baffle 

 understanding. That the composition of sunlight may differ from year to year is a recog- 

 nized fact. But to j)rove, with ])reseiit knowledge and equipment, that such variation is, 

 or is not, a basic cause of periodic changes in abundance, as suggested by DeLury"" and 

 King, is an undertaking, challenging indeed, but probably beyond today's scientific re- 

 sources. 



A start, however, has been made by measuring the chemical composition of some of the 

 more commonly eaten grouse foods. These, together with |)i'itincnt data alreadv pub- 

 lished, are presented later.* 



Some attem|)t has also been made to determine (he nutritive requirements of grouse in 

 captivity. Thus in 19.'?-!. and 19.3.5 Dr. L. C. Norris. working for the Iiivcsligation. found 

 that young grouse thrived best on a starting diet of 27-.'?fl per cent protein wliich cnuld 

 be safely reduced to a 20 ])er cent level at eight weeks. For (he first time light has been 

 cast on the extent to which common grouse foods satisfy protein and other needs by a 

 study of their effects on tlic metabolic rate of captive birds. In this way some idea of the 

 nutritive value of the more important foods has been gained. 



Empirical knowledge of this sort, while basic, must be translated into action in order 

 to realize its potential value. Thus, when the txpical diet became known, the next step 

 was to chart the distribution and approximate abundance of these foods throughout the State 

 and the habitats in which they most commonly occur. 



Nature is a generous provider. Man has partially learned the trick of using her bounty 

 for his ends. Thus some time was spent in learning how to produce the most desirable 

 foods in quantity and to make them grow where they will do the most good in creating more 

 productive grouse habitat. 



FEEDING HABITS'^' 



One cannot long watch either an adult grouse feeding or a brood fanned out in advance 

 of their mother and on the alert for food without sensing that these birds have absorbed 

 something of the dignity and quiet of the woods in which thev live. While quick and wide- 

 awake, the birds show little of the nervous activity so characteristic of the bobwhite. Feed- 

 ing is for the most part a leisurely pastime, for food is plentiful and seldom difficult to 

 obtain. 



* See disciissinn of Clieinical Conijiosition of Some Crousr Foods, p. 237. 



A The anions of yroiisr. both ji. lulls and >otiiig. wliilt- f.-ciliiie. arc described in Chapter V. 



