Biography 55 



Relations of Grouse to Other Animals. Except for those animals 

 that are recognized as enemies, grouse pay little attention to their 

 woodland cousins. Other birds, as well as the small rodents and in- 

 sectivores are taken for granted most of the time. Occasionally if a 

 squirrel or chipmunk comes too close to a brood of young chicks the 

 mother will drive off the intruder with a whirlwind attack. Some- 

 times jays will scold at grouse, apparently for theii- own amusement. 

 Ring-necked pheasants will occasionally parasitize a grouse nest 

 (see Plate 5C). 



Grouse select their nest sites without regard for nests of other 

 species. They occasionally will flaunt danger and locate the nest in 

 the vicinity of an enemy. We watched one hen bring off a clutch 

 successfully within fifty feet of an active red fox den. The fox pups 

 had played within ten feet of the nest as evidenced by the "toys" 

 (uneaten animal remains such as a bone or a piece of fur) left there. 

 Another bud nested successfully almost beneath a sharp-shinned 

 hawk's nest. Generally, however, they pay healthy respect to those 

 creatures that they instinctively know to be dangerous. 



Adaptability to Changing Environment. That the grouse is to be 

 found within a few miles of New York City and is scattered in fair 

 abundance throughout most of the highly populated northeastern 

 states is a tribute to its ability to adapt itself to changing conditions. 

 There is little question but tliat certain environmental conditions 

 combine to make optimum survival of the species. But there is 

 hardly a single one, or gioup, of tliese conditions that the bird cannot 

 circumvent to maintain itself in reasonable numbers. In coverts 

 throughout its range, it is constantly facing changes: lumbering, 

 forest fires, gi-azing, changes in populations of predators and buffer 

 species, in unending variety and combination. Grouse populations 

 may go down as a result of changes in environment, in some ex- 

 tremes they are even extirpated, but as time wears on the species 

 adapts itself and continues with surprising versatility. 



Adaptability to Artificial Propagation. The story of man's attempts 

 to raise ruffed grouse in captivity is even older than the profession 

 of game breeding itself in America. As early as 1750 Bartram (In 

 PhU. Trans. Roy. Soc. London, 1754) wrote a friend in England to 

 the effect that the ruffed grouse could not be tamed or raised under 

 hens. For over 150 years every other attempt met with the same 



