Biography 41 



of the weather is very dangerous to young grouse during the early 

 weeks of their Hves. A single wet chilling, if not followed soon by a 

 warm sunning, is apt to be fatal. In violent storms like this some 

 chicks may be seriously soaked and chilled in spite of the hen's best 

 efforts. Any abnormal exposure would lead to almost certain trouble. 

 It was calamitous that upon such an occasion a water-soaked old 

 skunk, caught away from his den by the storm, blundered through 

 this particular thicket on his way home and scattered the grouse 

 family. As quickly as possible the mother recalled her chicks and 

 hovered them again, but the damage was done. Although the day 

 came along bright and cheerful, three of the family failed to respond 

 to the breakfast call. If they had been picked up by a man and taken 

 to a game pathologist for autopsy, his report would probably read 

 "cause of death unknown." 



It was soon after the encounter with the storm that proved so dis- 

 astrous that the family met another grouse, an old cock bird. This 

 was the first of their kind other than their mother that the chicks had 

 ever seen. The hen had not encountered another grouse since her 

 last visit to a drumming log before starting incubation. The chicks 

 stayed close to the mother's side, for they were not quite certain 

 whether the newcomer was friend or foe. The cock bird, for his part, 

 was completely nonchalant, paying scant attention. Soon the family 

 were on their way, the male bird following a short distance behind 

 for a few minutes, and then disappearing. He might have been their 

 father ( or one of their fathers ) but if so he showed no paternal in- 

 terest or sense of duty. While famed for his magnificent courtship, 

 the male grouse is not a good parent. Among hundreds of grouse 

 broods observed, only about one in fifteen had the benefit of a 

 father's presence near by, and it is doubtful if many of these asso- 

 ciations were anything but accidental. Further, it is probable that 

 most of the relationships of male to the brood did not involve the 

 actual father anyway. There is little inclination on the part of the 

 male bird to associate with the brood at any time, but what solici- 

 tude does exist is stronger during the early weeks than during the 

 last half of the summer. About one in ten broods up to six weeks of 

 age are likely to be found vdth a male adult near by (within two 

 hundred feet), whereas with older broods the ratio is only about five 

 per cent. 



Each day that the ground was dry considerable time was spent in 



