88 The Ruffed Grouse 



Mixed Conifer-Hardwood Woods. The mixed woods is an impor- 

 tant year-round type providing a significant amount of conifer shelter 

 interspersed with hardwoods that furnish food and serve other pur- 

 poses. It is the one type group that, with interspersion of open land, 

 can support a fair grouse population without the presence of the 

 other major types. In winter it ranks second in use intensity only 

 to coniferous woods, and in fall and spring it ranks third behind 

 conifers and hardwoods. In the summer it is used less intensively 

 than any of the other crown- type groups except conifers. 



The primary subdivisions of the mixed-woods type on Connecticut 

 Hill are distinguished by age class. Mature mixed woods has a high 

 proportion of the trees in the twelve inches and above d.b.h. class, 

 and a rather sparse understory. The submature mixed woods has a 

 large majority of trees in the four inches to 12 inches d.b.h. class 

 and the understory is usually well stocked. The latter is superior 

 to the mature stands for grouse cover. The mature stands can 

 usually be improved by selective cutting. When the density of ma- 

 ture trees is reduced so that reproduction of both conifers and hard- 

 woods establishes a good understory, the stand is changed to the 

 more desirable grouse cover type. 



Over the northeastern states there are a number of subtypes of 

 mixed woodland varying considerably in value as grouse cover. The 

 subtypes are combinations of the two age classes just noted with the 

 several types of conifer and hardwood associations that occur as mix- 

 tures. The most important subtypes, in approximate order of value, 

 are as follows (each of these may occur as mature or submature 

 stands ) : 



Hemlock— beech, birch, maple 



White pine, red pine— beech, birch, maple 



Spruce, fir— northern hardwoods 



White pine— oak, hickory 



Hard pine— oak, hickory 



Hard pine— oak 



The seasonal use of mixed woodland varies little except in sum- 

 mer, varying from nine per cent of all flushes per acre in summer to 

 twenty-three per cent in winter. The percentage of flushes for each 

 season are: winter twenty-three per cent; spring, twenty per cent; 

 fall, twenty per cent; summer, nine per cent. 



