RUFFED GROUSE 161 



found no just ground to glory over the dead body of that perfect product of the 

 wild outdoors, that past master of woodcraft with his wings, which so immeas- 

 urably outmatched the best my limbs could do ; those wings with their damning, 

 rebuking evidence — a drop of lead-tinctured blood. The triumph was all his. 



Winter. — If not too much disturbed the young birds remain in the 

 family group with the female during fall and winter; and the male 

 joins them late in fall. They fatten on the abundant crop of 

 berries, fruits, and nuts in preparation for winter, their legs are now 

 warmly feathered, their thick new plumage protects them against 

 the increasing cold, and the comblike scales on their feet grow out 

 to help them walk on the snow. They now seek their winter quarters 

 in thick woods, where they can find shelter from cold winds and a 

 good food supply within easy reach. They lead comparatively in- 

 active lives, spending much of the daytime roosting in evergreen trees, 

 in vine-clad thickets, on sunny borders, or even under the snow. 

 They feed early in the morning and at dusk, mainly on the buds of 

 poplars, birches, and apple trees. Their tracks in the snow are easily 

 recognized, as the toes are widely spread and the tracks are in a 

 direct line, one directly in front of another. In severe weather, when 

 the snow is deep, they often dive into the soft drifts and find a 

 snug, well-protected bed a foot or two below the surface. Unless 

 the snow becomes very heavily frosted they can easily burst a way 

 out in the morning, or unless an enemy finds their hiding place. A 

 good shelter is sometimes found under a low branch or pile of brush 

 covered with snow, or under a log banked with snow. Such places 

 serve as either day or night roosts. When there is little or no snow 

 the birds gather for the night in the thickest groves of pines or 

 other conifers, roosting on the branches near the trunk, often a 

 number together in the same tree, where the cover is dense enough 

 to protect them. 



Mortality. — The periodic scarcity of ruffed grouse, with subse- 

 quent recovery to more normal numbers again, has long been a fruit- 

 ful subject for discussion and study. Their natural enemies have 

 probably served only to keep their increase within check. Their 

 decrease is due to many other causes, mostly chargeable to man. 

 Trapping, snaring, and smoking out roosting places have all been 

 stopped, and shooting has been reduced and periodically stopped. 

 But clearing and cultivating land still goes on, and sportsmen are 

 still increasing. Severe winters and unfavorable breeding seasons 

 have their temporary effects, as do the periodic scarcity of certain 

 insects, on which the young depend for food, and the occasional 

 inroads of heavy flights of goshawks or great horned owls. 



But the principal causes of decrease and of excessive mortality 

 are the various diseases to which grouse are subject and the numer- 

 ous parasites that attack them. At my request, Dr. Alfred O. Gross, 



