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GROUSE 



The slaty -gray Blue Grouse is the common grouse of the west- 

 ern mountains. As if aware that they cannot be seen easily in 

 the dim forest light, the grouse sit quietly watching the intruder. 

 When frightened they cackle like scared chickens and fly down 

 the mountainside with amazing speed for all their 3 or 4 pounds. 

 In late summer the birds move into the high naountains. They 

 winter in the spruce and fir forests, seldonn leaving the trees. 

 In late spring they return to the sunny lower valleys and foothills 

 to nest, walking all the way. On the nesting grounds the courting 

 males flutter and hoot. Humph - humph -humph - nna - hunnph they 

 grunt softly, inflating the bright-colored skin at their throats. 

 The call, like the hoot of an owl, seems far away but the bird 

 may be nearby. The hens hide their nests so well that few have 

 ever been found. 



The Ruffed Grouse is found in open forests of northern North 

 America. It can rise swiftly on powerful wings and change its 

 course quickly, dodging tree limbs at 30 or 40 nriiles an hour. 

 It winters in the deepest part of the woods, spending nnost of 

 the time in the trees. In severe winters ^"t j'ften dives into a 

 snowbank for shelter. The males are famous for their drumming 

 during the nesting season. A favored spot is near an old logging 

 road. Standing on an old log, with his shining black ruff raised 

 about his head and black-banded tail spread in a fan, the grouse 

 begins to drum. He lifts his wings forward and upward, slowly 

 at first then faster and faster until the wings seem to disappear 

 in a blur. On the quiet morning air floats a low throbbing, 

 rumbling sound like distant thunder or the put-put of an out- 

 board motor starting. 



The slate -colored Spruce Grouse lives in northern wilder- 

 nesses of tangled swannps and in fir and spruce forests with their 

 thick carpets of nnoss. Because it has no fear of man it is often 

 called the fool hen. It has steadily disappeared as settlennent 

 opened up the northern forests. It is a silent bird and usually is 

 seen alone except for family groups. During the nesting season 

 the handsome male struts about forest openings. Intermittently 

 he inflates the red skin over his eyes, whirs his wings, and 

 struts. Now and then, as in sheer exuberance, he flits between 

 a tree limb and the ground. The hen hides her nest under a low 

 spruce bough or in the deep moss of the forest floor. She. blends 

 so well with her surroundings that one may pass closely and never 

 see her sitting quietly on her nest. 



In high mountain country and in the Arctic live small grouse 

 that change their dark summer plumage for a white coat when 

 winter comes. They are the ptarmigans. 



Sage Grouse 



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Blue Grouse 



Ruffed Grouse 



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Spruce Grouse 



