194 FOOD HABITS AM) REQilREME,\TS 



The flesh of animals which ha\e been sick or poisoned h\ laurel is supposedly unfit for 

 coiisuniption". As a result liirds guilty of this laurel-eating habit in some instances, have 

 been pronounced unpalatable, or even poisonous, to humans. Judd reported knowing of 

 several instances in which persons were jjoisoned by eating grouse that had fed extensively 

 on laurel. Wilson""' also referred to such poisoning, but attrii>utcd the ill-effects to failure 

 to draw the birds immediately, and stated that after taking a lumdful of laurel from a '"pheas- 

 ant " he had eaten freely of the meat without any unpleasant consequences. (Arouse were once 

 banned from the markets of Philadelphia through fear of laurel poisoning. 



Mention has already been made of one grouse consuming a half-pint of mountain laurel 

 leaves at one feeding without any indication of discomfort. Among the birds examined, such 

 leaves were eaten by 23, comprising over half the contents in four. Twigs and buds were 

 present in 11, but usually in small quantities. 



In an effort to cast additional light on the subject, six adult hand-raised grouse were pro- 

 vided with their normal daily ration supplemented with a continuous supply of fresh laurel 

 leaves. At the end of one week four were autopsied without finding any indication of in- 

 jury that could be ascribed to laurel. The two remaining liirds were continued on the same 

 schedule for three more weeks without visible harmful results. They were then put on a diet 

 of pure laurel. Death resulted. Upon autopsy, it was attributed directly to malnutrition. 



Two additional grouse were fed on laurel only. Both showed consistent weight loss and 

 died after seven days. Death from malnutrition again was indicated. 



Remains from six of the grouse, five from the first lot and one from the second, were fed 

 to mice and kittens, none of which showed indications of discomfiture. The other two were 

 eaten by the senior author, who reported no ill effects, though the taste of the flesh was dis- 

 tinctive. 



Though these tests are admittedly not extensive, one finds here no indication that laurel 

 is poisonous to grouse, or through them to humans. When eaten alone it apparently has 

 little sustaining value. Grouse will eat large quantities of laurel leaves when deprived of 

 other food and freely su|)|)lemcnt their diet with laurel even when pro\ ided with an abun- 

 dance of their normal rations. 



That the grouse like many other birds can eat the berries of poison ivy (Rhus toxicoden- 

 dron) with ap|)arent inqiunitv is another interesting fact. Sm\th " quotes Forbes as finding 

 280 of these berries in a bird collected in December in Illinois. Dr. A. K. Fisher counted 

 160 which were in the crop of an Adirondack grouse shot in October. .Nine of the adults and 

 one chick collected for the present Investigation had been feeding on jioison ivy fruits or 

 seeds. That even ii] the stomach they may retain jiroperties poisonous to man was indicated 

 by Judd. who cited the case of an investigator who was poisoned uliilc cxainiiiing the gizzards 

 of crows that had fed on poison ivy berries. 



A number of other plants contain substances poisonous or highlv unpaialalijc to man. Some 

 of these are useful grouse food plants, while others are conspicuous In their absence in the 

 normal diet. The berries of yew (Taxus canadensis) and fruits of bittersweet (Celaslrus 

 scfindrns) contain toxic alkaloids, but that did not deter 20 birds from eating the former 

 and h\c llic lallcr. Seeds of the smartweeds (Polygonum ) ina\ cause |>oisoning when fed in 

 grain or ground fc('<ls despite the fa<t that they are widely used b\ nian\ forms of wildlife. 

 In ail. i^'2 grouse. If? adults and .31 chicks, ate smartweed seeds. Fruits of the bittersweet 

 nightshade fSola/iiini l)uh iiinani} . eaten by nine birds, are occasionalh poisonous to man. 



