Biography 57 



grouse becomes a routine success are: increase in number of eggs 

 laid by breeders ( 10.5 to 16.9 average per hen ) ; ' reduction of inf er- 

 tihty in eggs (27.8 to 61.9 per cent a year); ^ increase in hatchability 

 of fertile eggs ( 58.3 to 87.5 per cent ) ; ^ increase in survival of 

 hatched chicks (16.2 to 37.7 per cent).' In the latter case, the high 

 mortality occurs mainly during the first two weeks after hatching. 



There is little question that these problems will be solved in due 

 time, but it will likely take many more years. The difficulties in pro- 

 ducing grouse in confinement are to a considerable extent due to 

 the relative unadaptability of the species to artificial propagation. 

 The exacting conditions of the oestrus cycle, the vicious nature of 

 the bird when not in the proper physiological condition for mating, 

 its susceptibility to diseases and parasites of many kinds, and the 

 natural fitness of the digestive system for insects almost exclusively 

 in the early weeks of life, all contribute to make the grouse a difficult 

 species to rear. On the other hand, the bird is very tractable in cap- 

 tivity, even more tame than the pheasant or bobwhite. It is poten- 

 tially able to lay many eggs; one female examined during the 

 egg-laying period proved to have 177 eggs visible to the naked eye, 

 from pinhead size to one ready for laying. 



In spite of its tameness in captivity, man-reared grouse readily 

 revert to natural wildness when released in good coverts. The ma- 

 jority of game farm grouse restocked in New York became normally 

 wild within a week after release. Some individuals do not lose their 

 affinity for man so readily, however. I recall one bird in particular 

 that ran up to greet a man as if he were a long lost brother, this in a 

 woodland fairly remote from human habitation and about a month 

 after the bird had been released. 



Farm-reared birds appear to have little trouble in shifting from 

 captivity food over to their natural diet but do experience consider- 

 able difficulty in avoiding predator attack. Probably this is as much 

 due to unfamiliarity with the habitat as with a lack of wariness or 

 ability. 



1 These figures are taken from N. Y. S. Cons. Dept. Ann. Reports for the five-year 

 period prior to 1941. 



