CHARACTERISTIC OF THE BROOD 297 



During the first two weeks, insects constitute a large proportion of their food, while later 

 vegetable material is predominant. Young chicks, especially, are a hive of activity, constantly 

 picking amongst the ground litter or chasing insects through the low-growing vegetation. In the 

 course of such pursuits, they often flutter off the ground a bit. Older chicks frequently jump 

 eight or ten inches in the air. aided by a wing flap or two, in order to get some particular 

 morsel out of normal reach. They scratch very little with their feet and the hen seldom 

 passes on to a chick a food particle she herself has picked up. She may, however, sometimes 

 call the youngsters to her and encourage them to eat some special delicacy she has found. 



As they proceed, the chicks sample everything, both animate and inanimate. Bits of wood 

 and other debris are apparently taken just as readily as a juicy insect, although they are usu- 

 ally dropped again. Movement, however, definitely attracts their attention. This is probably 

 one of the chief reasons why ants are eaten in such large numbers. X^lien a particularly in- 

 teresting new object is encountered, the chick will stretch its neck, inspect it with one eye and 

 then, turning its head, give it the once over with the other eye. 



Activities of this kind are, naturally, very difficult to observe among wild birds. At the 

 Catskill Experimental Station, however, several broods were hatched and reared by grouse 

 mothers on the ground in large open enclosures affording an abundance of typical cover as 

 well as excellent opportunities for observation. These broods usually began their day's adven- 

 tures shortly after sun-up. Even rainy weather did not long delay the start. For the first week 

 or ten days, before they began to fly, the chicks were brooded at night by the hen. In the 

 morning, she would get up. the chicks tumbling down from under her wings or emerging from 

 some other retreat. Immediately, she would move off some ten feet and wait while her brood, 

 spreading out fan-wise as they chased bugs and beetles or drank dew from blades of grass, 

 worked up to her. On warm days. u|)wards of half an hour might be spent in this way, but, 

 when the day was cold or rain\. the chicks often returned to be brooded again after only 

 five minutes. Thus, throughout the day, periods of feeding alternated with periods of brood- 

 ing. Seldom, however, would all chicks be under the hen at one time, individual birds being 

 continually on the move. As the birds grew older and commenced to fly. they usually roosted 

 at night and brooding became discontinued altogether. For the remainder of the summer, 

 while feeding might be indulged in at any time, it was less common during the middle of the 

 day which was devoted more to sunning and dusting. Dust baths, however, are often associ- 

 ated with ant-hills and there is every indication that large numbers of ants are picked up on 

 such occasions. 



Dust Bathing 



What has been said under this topic with respect to adults applies equally here as to func- 

 tion, sites chosen and materials utilized. Chicks have been seen dusting when only about two 

 weeks old but the general onset of this activity is usually a week or so later. From then on, it 

 is common to find dust baths comprising one large depression flanked or surrounded by 

 several smaller ones, where a female and her chicks have had a family dusting party. 



Gregariousness 



In plotting the travels of individual broods it is not unusual to find that the areas covered 

 by two or, occasionally, three such groups have overlapped. On the other hand, it is unusual 



