Food and Water 107 



to a larger volume of succulent green-leaf food exposed by melting 

 snow and newly sprouted with the advent of the new growing season. 

 As spring merges into summer, buds practically disappear from the 

 diet, fresh fruits become more important, and insects are taken to a 

 significant extent. Flowers, particularly strawberry blossoms, are 

 sometimes eaten in considerable quantity. 



In point of volume, buds of poplar, birch, cherry, hophornbeam, 

 and blueberry continue to furnish a large per cent of the food well 

 into May. Leaves of ferns, grass-like plants (particularly Carex), 

 strawberr\% hawthorn, partridgeberry, sheep sorrel, wood sorrel, 

 mountain laurel, Canada mayflower, and wintergreen are all of con- 

 siderable importance. Owing to scarcity, relatively little fruit is eaten 

 until the advent of summer brings on the strawberries. The fruits 

 most commonly eaten during the spring are those of sumac (includ- 

 ing poison ivy), rose, greenbriar, hawthorn, wintergreen, and par- 

 tridgeberry. 



SUMMER FOODS 



The summer diet is composed mainly of fruits in season as they 

 ripen, green leaves, and insects. For the adults the emphasis is on 

 fruits, with green material a close second, and insects a poor third. 

 For the chicks insects are predominant during June and part of 

 July, with fruit second and leaves third. During the latter part of 

 the summer the young gradually take the same proportions and types 

 of foods as do the adults. 



Outstanding among the fruits eaten by adults are strawberries, 

 raspberries (including blackberries, dewberries, etc. of genus 

 Ruhus), cherries, sedges (seeds), and blueberries (see Plate 21). 

 Most prominent of the plants providing green materials are poplar, 

 touch-me-not, buttercup, apple, hawthorn, and partridgeberry. 

 Fruits of Juneberry (Amelanchier) and some dogwoods are also 

 eaten to a considerable extent in the summer, the former during the 

 early part and the latter during August and September. Insects con- 

 stitute from one per cent to three per cent of the total food. Orders 

 of insects and related animals most commonly utilized by adult 

 grouse in order are: Hymenoptera (mainly ants), Coleoptera (bee- 

 tles), Arachjiida (spiders), Lepidoptera (caterpillars), Orthoptera 

 ( largely grasshoppers ) , and Opiliones ( harvestmen ) . 



