Chronicle of the Ruffed Grouse in Eastern United States 21 



developed. As early as 1812, Wilson records the retreat to the in- 

 terior of the species away from the vicinity of Philadelphia. 



The abundance apparently fluctuated considerably in different 

 parts of the Nortlieast and the market price varied accordingly. 

 From twenty-five cents a brace (Boston 1831, Cincinnati 1820) in 

 the first third of the 1800's prices ranged to as high as two dollars a 

 bird in New York later in the century. 



Even when civilization pushed the species back from the cities, 

 hope was held out for its recovery, as witness the item in the U. S. 

 Gazette of November 18, 1832: "We are glad to perceive that the 

 citizens of Bucks County [near Philadelphia] are giving heed to the 

 preservation of game. . . . Few of that fine species of bird [the 

 grouse] are to be seen. . . . Let us encourage their growth and we 

 shall be repaid by purchasing them a few seasons hence at fifty cents 

 per dozen." 



During the last two decades before 1900, the importance of the 

 grouse in commercial channels waned with the diminishing supply, 

 and at the same time interest in hunting as a sport was growing 

 rapidly. Demands for the legal elimination of commercial hunting 

 became more and more vociferous until one after another the states 

 enacted the needed restrictive legislation early in the present cen- 

 tury. New York's law prohibiting sale of grouse was passed in 1903, 

 Pennsylvania's was enacted in 1897. 



The emphasis on grouse hunting as a sport and form of recreation 

 has increased by leaps and bounds since the passing of the era of 

 exploitation. Today he is called "the king of game birds" by most 

 hunters familiar with him. In Pennsylvania it is the oflBcial state bird. 

 That the grouse should attain such importance in the sporting field 

 is a tribute not only to the wisdom of creating and enforcing ade- 

 quate conservation laws but even more to the ability of the species 

 to adjust itself to changing environment. 



Reference has already been made to the "fool hen" characteristic 

 of the bird that so amused de Lahontan. One early author told of 

 hunting grouse with dogs— the more mongrel and yappy the better- 

 wherein the trick was to first flush a covey. They would alight in a 

 near-by tree and watch the dogs as they gathered at the base of the 

 tree and ran around in circles, all the while making a great noise. 

 The hunter then picked off the birds with his rifle. So long as he was 

 careful to pick the lowest bird each time, so that its falling did not 



