Introduction 



Three times since the turn of the century the ruffed grouse has 

 suffered severe and quite sudden reduction in numbers in the north- 

 eastern states. Similar declines occurred in the lake states and 

 Canada. Each time it has appeared to be threatened with extinction. 

 Each time the sporting and nature-loving public has become aroused. 

 And following each of these occasions, there have been investiga- 

 tions of the causes of the catastrophe. Woodruff in 1908 reported 

 promptl}' on the severe but rather short-lived decline of 1907 in 

 New York. Stoddart likewise pursued his questionnaire study of the 

 1917 scarcity promptly and published the results the next year. 

 When the great decline of 1927 occurred (possibly the most severe 

 of all ) , studies were already under way by Allen and Gross in New 

 York and New England respectively. By the autumn of 1929, with 

 two more hunting seasons passed and no apparent improvement in 

 the numbers of grouse in New York, sportsmen urged tliat the state 

 again undertake to determine the cause of, and cure for, the periodic 

 decimation of the ruffed grouse. As a result the Conservation De- 

 partment undertook a complete, scientifically conducted study of 

 this species. I worked on this study for over seven years, mostly at 

 the Connecticut Hill Game Refuge, near Ithaca, N. Y. These studies 

 are the nucleus of experience about which this book is written, but 

 insofar as possible its application has been broadened to cover the 

 whole northeastern region. Eight years' additional work on wild life 

 throughout the northeastern states with the Soil Conservation Serv- 

 ice, U. S. Department of Agriculture, has aided in providing the 

 breadth of field observation that makes this possible. 



Many other studies of the ruffed grouse have been carried on in 

 recent years. I have cited freely from the reports of these in order to 

 provide a comprehensive picture of this most fascinating bird. State 

 game agencies and colleges in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachu- 

 setts, Comiecticut, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio, Michigan, Wis- 



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