Interrelationships of Ruffed Grouse 209 



grouse," in one stomach of the fourteen from red-shouldered hawks 

 taken in Maine, and one grouse in thirty-sLx stomachs of marsh 

 hawks. It is hkely that duck hawks and pigeon hawks may also occa- 

 sionally get a grouse. Among the owls, the barred and snowy owls 

 take an occasional grouse. Gross ( 1944 ) records the occurrence of 

 grouse remains in five of one hundred and twenty-seven stomachs 

 of snowy owls examined from birds taken in the northeastern states 

 during winter incursions. However, none of these species are of any 

 significance as grouse enemies. 



It should be noted here that while no specific instances of this 

 latter group of hawks and owls taking grouse on Connecticut Hill 

 were noted, it is reasonable to suppose that a few of the cases attrib- 

 uted to the horned owl and the accipitrine hawks may have been 

 misidentified and actually were the work of some other species. 



Reptilian Grouse Predators. The black snake is the only reptile 

 that has been recorded as a grouse predator. Records of nests being 

 destroyed by black snakes are not uncommon, and two cases of 

 grouse chicks being killed by black snakes have been recorded 

 (Pennsylvania Game News, August, 1935; West Virginia Conserva- 

 tion, Dec, 1941 ) . It is probable that other snakes too may take grouse 

 eggs, even though no records are available. In the southern Appa- 

 lachians where snakes are numerous, they might even be of some 

 significance in connection with grouse egg losses. T. E. Clark of 

 Virginia advised me that snakes, including the pilot black, black 

 racer, timber rattler, and pine snake, are important grouse nest pred- 

 ators there and occasionally take young giouse. 



RELATION OF PREDATION TO COVER TYPES 



The concept of "escape cover" used in wild-life management indi- 

 cates that certain cover conditions are better in preventing attack, 

 or successful attack, by predators than others. Generally, it has been 

 thought that dense shelter, such as that of thorny thickets and 

 coniferous types, served this purpose best for game birds. The 

 types of cover in which grouse remains left by predators are 

 found as compared with the incidence of grouse in the same cover 

 indicates that mixed woodland is the most hazardous type of cover. 

 It is somewhat ironical that the mixed-woodland type also is the 



