166 BULLETIN 162, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Ruffed grouse have been extirpated from much of the south-cen- 

 tral parts of their range, as in Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, 

 and Arkansas. Casual occurrences outside the normal range are not 

 numerous, probably the most unusual being a specimen that was 

 taken near Camden, S. C, on December 27, 1904. 



The range as above described is for the entire species, which has, 

 however, been divided into six subspecies. Bonasa u. umbettus oc- 

 cupies the territory from Massachusetts, Virginia, and Georgia west 

 to southern Minnesota, eastern Kansas, and northern Arkansas; 

 B. u. togata is found north of umbettus, meeting it on the south in 

 Massachusetts, central New York, northern Michigan, northern Min- 

 nesota, and eastern North Dakota, while northward its range ex- 

 tends to Maine, northern Quebec, and northern Ontario. The race 

 B. u. thayeri is confined to Nova Scotia and probably eastern New 

 Brunswick. 



The gray ruffed grouse {Bonasa u. umbelloides) is found from 

 western South Dakota west to the coast and Cascade Ranges in 

 British Columbia, north to west-central Mackenzie, and south to 

 northern Colorado and northern Utah; the Oregon ruffed grouse 

 (B. u. sabini) occupies the Pacific coast region from Humboldt 

 County, Calif., north through Vancouver Island and the adjacent 

 mainland of British Columbia; and the Yukon ruffed grouse (B. u. 

 yukonensis) is found in the interior of Yukon and in Alaska. 



Egg dates. — Southern New England and New York {umbettus) : 

 72 records, April 5 to June 10 ; 36 records, May 9 to 24. New Jersey 

 and Pennsylvania : 15 records, April 20 to June 12 ; 8 records, May 

 9 to 27. Maryland to Iowa: 13 records, April 28 to June 4; 7 

 records, May 6 to 27. Michigan to Minnesota: 11 records, May 2 

 to June 10. 



Northern States and southern Canada {togata and thayeH) : 52 

 records, April 14 to June 26 ; 26 records, May 15 to 28. 



Mountain regions of Western States and Canada {umbelloides) : 

 45 records, May 1 to July 10 ; 23 records, May 18 to 29. 



Oregon and Washington {sabini) : 40 records, April 19 to June 18; 

 20 records, May 5 to 14. 



BONASA UMBELLUS TOGATA (Linnaeus) 



CANADA RUFFED GROUSE 



HABITS 



The ruffed grouse of northern New England and eastern Canada 

 is a grayer bird, with more conspicuous and darker markings below, 

 than typical umbettus. Its range is roughly the same as the spruce 



