Preface 



XV 



around in the open to please a lady, or to fly at breakneck speed 

 where obstacles are everywhere. But even though it is courting 

 death to indulge in these whims, the grouse will continue to do it. 



REPRODUCTIVE CAPACITY 



The second of the major survival and increase factors that is 

 inherently a part of each species is its innate ability to reproduce. 

 It is elemental that, other things being equal, a bird that habitually 

 lays eleven eggs ( like the grouse ) has a higher reproductive capacity 

 than one that lays, let us say, four eggs (like the woodcock). Like- 

 wise, a species that is polygamous is better fitted to assure complete 

 fertility than is one that is monogamous; a creature that matures to 

 breed in a single year has a higher reproductive capacity in that 

 respect than one that cannot breed until it is two or three years old. 

 So in these and in other reproductive constituents, the survival and 

 population of the grouse is vitally affected. 



When we combine all the forces involved in these eight major 

 factors of abundance, we have the whole ecology of the grouse and 

 its associates with all the tragedy, pathos, drama, and comedy of 

 their dynamic existences. 



