shelter 91 



hardwoods, mainly climax and subclimax species; mixed hardwoods 

 and conifers. 



The first category were primarily popple {P. tremuloides) al- 

 though areas of hawthorn were common and stands of alder and 

 pin cherry also occuned. In all of these subtypes brambles were 

 plentiful in the ground cover. The use of these three categories 

 varied considerably both by type and seasons. Most intensively used 

 year round were the pure stands of short-lived species, next the 

 mixed hardwoods and lastly the mixed hardwoods and conifers. By 

 seasons, the popple and hawthorn stands were used most inten- 

 sively throughout the year, except in summer. During summer the 

 mixed hardwoods showed a little the heaviest use. The overgrown 

 lands with mixed conifers were used more intensively than mixed 

 hardwoods only in the spring; at all other seasons this subtype was 

 least used of the three. This relative unimportance of the coniferous 

 mixture in overgrown-land types as compared with woodland types 

 is interesting and reflects the use made of the several overgrown- 

 land types— feeding rather than shelter. The significant superiority 

 of the pure-temporaiy stands from fall through spring is probably 

 due to the value of the hawthorn fruit in the fall and of the popple 

 buds in winter and spring, but there may be a further explanation. 



Open Land: Grouse are found in open-field cover most often in 

 fall, and least in winter. However, open land is not an important 

 cover type at any time for grouse. As already noted, its importance 

 lies in creating edge, and raising the quality of adjacent coverts 

 thereby, rather than in its own intrinsic value. A large proportion of 

 the records of grouse actually flushed in open fields are due to the 

 presence of a bushy fence-row, an isolated apple tree, or some sim- 

 ilar attraction. 



THE EFFECT OF OPENINGS ON COVER SELECTION 



The grouse is well-known as a bird of the edges. We have already 

 seen that in nesting, the grouse mother generally selects a location 

 near the woods edge or an interior opening. Likewise the broods 

 were found mainly in the open cover types or near the edges if in 

 the woods. The same principle follows in the selection of cover by 

 the old birds, although not so completely. I reported on the utiliza- 

 tion of coniferous reforestation by grouse (Edminster, 1935) and 



