shelter 81 



from the heat is significant from the standpoint of use of this type, 

 it is of httle importance to the birds, since the type is so Uttle used. 



Sky conditions produce no significant changes in brood cover 

 selections in the types most used except for a pronounced avoidance 

 of slashings in the rain. On the other hand, there is a very pro- 

 nounced increase in the use of coniferous woods during rain. This 

 indicates the need for heavy shelter during summer rains. 



Differences in wind conditions produce several deviations in 

 cover selections worthy of note, mainly in the use of conifers. Here 

 we find the pines and hemlocks used primarily in windless weather, 

 and used well below average under moderate and strong winds. 

 The explanation probably lies in the association of windless weather 

 with hot days in the summer, and breezy weather with cooler days. 

 A reduction in use of slashings during strong winds and a high use 

 intensity of hardwood woods on windless days are both significant. 



Probably the two most important items in these weather rela- 

 tionships are ( 1 ) the indicated need of broods for coniferous cover, 

 even in the summer, for escape from heat and rain; and (2) the 

 weakness of the slashing type as an all-weather cover in compar- 

 ison witli overgrown land. It is notably less used during rain and 

 strong winds. 



RELATION OF SHELTER TO ADULT GROUSE 



Cover Type Preferences of Adults. The cover types in which adult 

 grouse were flushed in the several seasons of the year on Connecticut 

 Hill for 13,553 records taken from 1930 to 1936 are shown in Fig. 3. 

 These do not include females with broods in summer. 



Let us first consider the preferences of grouse during each season. 

 In order properly to evaluate the data it is necessary to weight them 

 according to the availability of each of the cover types. Taking the 

 winter (January to mid-March) records first, we find that the num- 

 ber of records per acre of each cover type, when reduced to parts 

 of the major type taken as 1.0, are: 



