224 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. 



the Ruffed Grouse, and always bitter in winter, presumably from the 

 spruce and tamarack buds which form a large part of its food. It is likel3^ 

 however, that during a large part of the year it feeds on seeds, berries, 

 leaves, insects, and buds other than those of the spruce and tamarack, 

 and that its flesh at such times is well flavored. 



TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. 



Tail-feathers sixteen. Adult male: Forehead black with a small white spot on either 

 side; bare skin above the eye bright red; rest of head and back of neck ashy gray, barred 

 with black; back, scapulars and wing-coverts similar, but the general tone brownish gray; 

 tail black rather broadly tipped with light rusty; chin and upper throat mainly black, 

 bordered more or less completely by a circle or necklace of white s^jots; lower neck and 

 breast black, most of the feathers with broad white tips, but a solid black patch of some 

 size on the chest, and another on the middle of the lower breast; sides and flanks mixed gray, 

 brown and black, with long white shaft streaks on many feathers. Female entirely 

 different: Upper parts closely barred with pale rusty and black, many feathers with 

 narrow white tips; tail similarly barred with black and rufous, with a broad terminal 

 band of rusty; under parts buff or white, sharply barred with black, buff predominating 

 on the chest and black and white on the belly. 



Length 14.70 to 16.20 inches; wing 6.50 to 7.35; tail 5 to 5.75. 



122. Ruffed Grouse. Bonasa umbellus umbellus {Linn.). (300) 



Synonyms: Partridge, Pheasant, Grouse. — Tetrao umbellus, Linn., 1766, Wils., Aud., 

 Bonap., Nutt. — Bonasa umbellus, Steph., Baird, Elliot and others. 



Figures 61 and 62. 



The tuft of broad, square-tipped black feathers on either side of the neck, 

 and the long fan-like, gray-tipped tail, with its broad sub-terminal band of 

 black or dark brown, are characteristic of both sexes; the neck ruffs of the 

 male, however, are larger and glossy, while those of the female are browner 

 or duller and without gloss. 



Distribution. — Eastern United States, and southern Canada, west to 

 Minnesota, south in the mountains to Northern Georgia, Mississippi, and 

 Kansas. 



The Ruffed Grouse, or common Partridge, is generally distributed over 

 the entire state, although it becomes yearly less common in the cultivated 

 districts. The bird is naturally unsuspicious and far from wdld, but constant 

 persecution has rendered it very timid throughout most of the state. In 

 the wilder portions of the Lower Peninsula, and in much of the Upper Pe- 

 ninsula, it still retains much of its unsuspicious nature, and when flushed, 

 either by man or dog, it goes but a short distance and often, if not usually, 

 alights in a tree, where it sits in full sight apparently quite unconcerned. 



Its food consists largely of buds and leaves, and it is particularly fond 

 of the buds of hazel, birch, poplar, and apple, and instances are known 

 where apple trees standing close to the woods have been nearly stripped 

 of their buds during the winter. While the ground is bare of snow the 

 bird feeds largely on berries and seeds, and eats insects freely when they 

 are obtainable. Dr. A. K. Fisher, of the United States Department of 

 Agriculture, states that Ruffed Grouse are very fond of grasshoppers and 

 crickets, and that it is rare to find a stomach or crop that does not contain 

 their remains during seasons when these insects are plentiful. He also states 

 that "beech nuts, chestnuts, and acorns of the chestnut oak and white oak 

 are common articles of food. In the fall the foUage of plants often forms 



