CHARACTERISTIC OF THE BROOD 295 



The most restricted areas of this kind have been observed on the Adirondack study area. In 

 this section, broods commonly occupy alder beds and limit their activities to the confines of 

 such cover units to such an extent that they rarely venture beyond their borders until late 

 summer or early fall. For example, throughout each of several summers, two broods occupied 

 a covert of this kind comprising, in all, only about 15 acres, each keeping to its respective end 

 of the tract. On the other hand, many broods were found in the more usual types of cover 

 on this area and ranged over considerably larger areas during the summer. 



In the more open type of range of the central and southern portions of the state, of which 

 the Connecticut Hill and Pharsalia study areas are representative, the broods tend to follow 

 the woods edges over much greater areas, although instances of restricted movement have 

 also been noted here. The average, however, is about 40 acres. 



Examination of the courses followed by broods, as revealed by successive contacts, demon- 

 strates the significant influence of woods edges, the borders of clearings, .slashings, woods 

 roads and the like on the territories chosen. In areas of disconnected coverts, a large propor- 

 tion of these areas are located about the periphery of the existing woodlots, many extending 

 for considerable distances along the woods edge, but pciiclratiiig the interior hardly at all. In 

 tracts of continuous forest, however, where openings arc c(ini])aralivcly small, the broods, in 

 following their borders, usually remain within more conipact limits. This is also true of 

 broods which choose the vicinity of small openings within the woodlots of disconnected coverts. 



Observations indicate that food is a more important factor than shelter in governing brood 

 movements* although even young broods are often found in conifer patches. Usually they 

 make their way at once to situations where there is an abundance of low, shrubby vegetation 

 with its accompanying po|)ulatioii of insect life. In such situations, the sunlight, in addition to 

 being a necessary element of the conditions involved, aids in keeping the chicks warm and in 

 drying them ofF after a storm. As the season advances, suitable food continues to become 

 available in much the same types of cover. Then, in late July, the raspberries and blackber- 

 ries connnence to rijjcn and a noticeable movement to the brier j)atches takes place. 



There seems to be no tendency for broods to olijcct I(j the presence of another brood on the 

 same area. Many cases of over-lapping routes luuc been recorded. In fact, as noted else- 

 where.^ two broods have been found to actually merge and subsequently separate again. 



That, at times, even quite young broods will cross appreciable open areas has been demon- 

 strated on several occasions. For example, one brood less than two weeks old, the female of 

 which was marked so that identification was positive, was found to have crossed 600 feet of 

 open field to a separate patch of woods from that in which it nested. This brood later returned 

 to the original covert. Several other similar instances have been noted where broods which 

 hatched in small separated woodlots have traveled to a larger tract and. often, back again, 

 crossing open fields of several hundred feet en route. This, however, is not a frequent occur- 

 rence. 



Hiding 



The ability of grouse chicks to "vanish before one"s eyes", so to speak, has long been 

 commented upon. Contrary, however, to popular belief, they do not grasp a leaf in their feet 

 and roll over. Their technique is merely to squat as low as possible and "freeze". In this 



» See olso Chal.tors HI nnd IV. 



A See disriission iindcr Relation of Female to Brood, p. 29:i. 



