3 



Biography 



April Showers and May Flowers. Each dawn arrived a Uttle sooner 

 than the day before and each dusk delayed a Uttle longer. The sun, 

 when it shone, became wanner day by day. The winter snow had 

 disappeared except for a few residual patches on the cool north 

 slopes. These changes brought new experiences and sensations to 

 the grouse that had been bom and raised on the other side of the 

 woodlot the summer before. They had not witnessed such changes 

 and sensations before. It was thrilling. 



All winter long they had lived along the hemlock ravine. They had 

 several other companions off and on since autumn but they had not 

 seen any of them for several weeks. One day the female felt more 

 and more the need of solitude. The deep shelter of the ravine did not 

 seem to fit the new feeling in the air. And so she wandered off— over 

 near the little slash where first she had seen the light of day. There 

 she encountered another grouse and, still wanting a place all her 

 own, she decided to press on farther. 



Just beyond the slashing was a woodland of young maples and 

 beech. A logging road traversed this woods from the slashing, and 

 wound its way down over the hill to the farmstead in the valley be- 

 low. As the young hen bii^d leisurely picked at fresh spring gi-eens 

 and jumped for the first insects of the season, the sun came up higher 

 through the lower tree branches and the old trail with its grassy 

 edges seemed very homy. She was nervous. Something within tugged 

 at her emotions. There was an increasing urge to respond to an un- 

 known need. And it was not long in coming. A strange sound rent 

 the air. Hardly had the first few beats of its thumping passed before 

 she was tingling with anxiety to the tip of every nerve. Surely this 

 was what she had been seeking, all unknowingly. 



Slowly she made her way back towards the edge of the slashing— 

 the direction from which this strange sound had come. Stealthily 

 she chose her footsteps so as not to expose her presence. In just a 



