COMMON TO BOTH SEXES 259 



TABLE 33. DISTANCE BETWEEN SUCCESSIVE NESTS OF INDIVIDUAL MARKED 



FEMALE GROUSE 



• Although this bird was not retaken in 1938 or 1939. the prea-nrc of broods from 

 unltnown nesls in the immediate vicinity indicate she occupied the same territory. 



Relation to Cover Quality. It may be stated from the data at hand that tracts of as low 

 as 25 acres of good cover* may afford a suitable annual range or territory for a pair of 

 grouse but that, as the cover becomes poorer, the i)irds must travel over larger areas in order 

 to find the enviroinnental requirements which they must have to survive. It is seldom, how- 

 ever, that the territories of individual birds exceed 150 acres or an area, mughly. one-half 

 mile in diameter. Therefore, the number of possible grouse territories in any tract varies 

 with the quality of the cover — a relationship which is important in controlling carrying ca- 

 pacity''. 



As might be expected, when a covert is not stocked to capacity, only the better territories 

 in it tend to be occupied. For this reason, birds will be found in certain portions of an area, 

 year after year, if they are to be found at all. while, elsewhere, one will encounter them only 

 now and then except when high populations are present. 



Furthermore, the nature of individual units of this kind is constantly changing as the cover 

 itself changes in the process of succession. Corresponding shifts in utilization by the birds 

 also take place. 



Seasonal Shifts. Within grouse territories, there are seasonal shifts. In winter, the birds 

 tend to concentrate in the vicinity of coniferous shelter while, in the sjiring. they spread out 

 over the second-growth hardwood and overgrown brush areas. Likewise, in the late summer, 

 the utilization of slashings increases and, in the fall, any portions of their domain offering 

 fruits, such as hawthorns, wild apples and grapes, are favored. 



Gregariousness 



In 1812, Alexander Wilson'"" wrote "the manners of the pheasant [grouse] are solitary; they 

 are seldom found in coveys of more than four or five together, and more usually in pairs or 

 singly". While Wilson seems to have had little experience with grouse during our northern 

 winters, his statement is very applicable to the habits of adults in the Northeast during most 

 of the year. Although exceptions occur at all seasons, there is, in general, little evidence of 

 sociability, except among the loose groups which occupy the same patches of shelter during 

 the late fall and winter. Even these break up as the breeding season draws near. 



Illustrative of this situation is the record for the Connecticut Hill area comparing the fall 

 and winter period of 1934-35 with the following spring. From October through March, a total 

 of 1,678 grouse flushes were recorded, of which 379 or 22.6 per cent, comprising 76 contacts, 



* Sec Chapter III. p. 110. 

 A See Chapter XII. p. 522. 



