156 COVER CHARACTERISTICS AM) SHELTER REOl IREMFATS 



and in the accompanying detailed analysis of seasonal trends. Lest repetition dull perception, 

 let us leave it there for reference and jiass on to a further delailin<: of these tendencies hv 

 types and months. 



By referring to table 151* one discovers no cover tvpe that is completclv avoided even 

 for a single month'^. Even the meadows (type A), in which the presence of a grown part- 

 ridge is something of a rarity throughout most of the \car. are occasionallv frequented in 

 the fall and early winter. 



Overgrown lands (types B, C and Dl hut little sought out in midwinter iFebruarvl, grad- 

 ually increase in attractiveness throughout the succeeding spring and summer to a peak in 

 September and October, then taper off rapidly in use through December and Januarv. Alder 

 beds and popple thickets I type B) deviate from the general picture by building up to their 

 maximum use in June and again in October and November. Brushlots and overgrown pastures 

 deficient in conifers (type Cl are most used from June through October. Where evergreens 

 have seeded in among the bushes and young hardwoods (type D) grouse usually frequent the 

 area more in early spring than in May or June. Though conifers in brushy and wooded 

 cover seem not to interest grouse throughout the warmer months, the birds begin to seek them 

 out in late summer, the trend becoming pronounced, as ol)ser\ant hunters know, by Septem- 

 ber and October. 



Woodlands are of course the backbone of grouse habitats, although less important in the 

 summer and early fall months. In February, 75.3 per cent of the birds were flushed therein. 

 Three-quarters of these were found in close association with varying amounts of coniferous 

 cover. Contrast this with August, when but 50. .3 per cent of the adults were flushed from 

 wooded areas largely composed of hardwoods. This brings into sharp relief the inability of 

 any one group of cover types adequately to meet the varying needs of the birds at all seasons 

 of the year. 



The component types that collectively constitute grouse cover nia\ be divided up into 

 second-growth woods, mature woods, spot-lumbered areas and coniferous cover. Considering 

 these in order we find that second-growth hardwoods (type YA are particularh altracti\e in 

 January and again in May, June and September. Much less attention is paid to them in the 

 fall and carlv winter. The ])resence of evergreens in this (■o\er lt\|)e KH ) tends to decrease its 

 use sharplv during the sunnner, and to increase its desirabilitv in the fall and winter. 



Turning to the older woodlands, after finding that the broods made but little use of mature 

 hardwood cover (type F), it is surprising to note their elders seeking this type out even more 

 than second-growth hardwoods from late winter through mid-sununer. Both types are alike 

 in being little used in the fall and early winter, though mature hardwoods are also avoided 

 into January. Add a sprinkling of conifers (type FH). however, and the picture changes rad- 

 ically for such cover is then more used throughout late winter, is much less attractive in sum- 

 mer, and is strongly pref<-rred from October through December. Kxcept for thick conifers 

 (type H), a cond)ination of mature hardwoods and conifers clearly vies with overgrown 

 lands for po|)ularitv in October, and is certaiid\ much |)referred to the latter over the next 

 two months. In fact, in December, 22.4 per cent of all the grouse (lushed w'ere found in this 

 one type of cover. 



The effecl. on woodland cover choice, of <onifcrs as a t\ pc (H) or scattered throughout 



• See Apprndix. p. 8J1. 



A On the Coiinrrlinit Mil] iiTt-n m» hircU wire flu»hf(l in malnre wimillanilii in Sfplnnbor. A lew were, iiowcvrr, on Ilie Adiron- 

 dark aludy am. 



