THE BUFFED GROUSE. 6^ 



Columl>ia, writes lue on this subject as follows: "The Ruffed Grouse is very 

 foud of grasshoppers and crickets as au "article of diet, aud when these insects 

 are abundant it is rare to find a stomach or crop that does not contain tlieir 

 remains. One specimen, shot late in October, had the crop and stomach dis- 

 tended with the larvjTi of Edema albifrons, a caterpillar wliicli feeds exten- 

 sively on the leaves of the maple. Beechnuts, chestnuts, and acorns of the 

 chestnut and white oaks are also conunon articles of food. Among berries early 

 in the season, the blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, and elderljerries are 

 eaten with relish, while later in the year the wintergreen {Gai(l(h('fi(i), partridge 

 berry (]\Iitclidl(i), with their foliag-e, sumach berries (including those of the 

 poisonous species), cranberries, black alder {flcr), dogwood (^Cornm), nanuv- 

 berries (Vibiinu(in'), and wild grapes form their chief diet. In tlie fall the 

 foliage of plants often forms a large part of their food, that of clover, straw- 

 berry, buttercup, wintergreen, and partridge l)erry predominating. 



"A fine male, shot at Lake George, New York, November 1, 1889, liad the 

 cro}) and stomach distended with the leaves of the pe])permiut. In the winter 

 these birds feed on the buds of trees, preferring those of the apple, ironwood, 

 black and white birch, and poplar." 



The number of eggs to a set varies from eight to fourteen; about eleven 

 may ha called a fair average. If the first set is destroyed, a second and 

 usually a smaller one is laid. Sets of sixteen eggs or over are of rare occur- 

 rence, but I have a reliable record of one numbering twenty-three eggs. Mr. 

 John T. Paintin, of Coralville, Johnson County, Iowa, found this set May 26, 

 1886, near tlie Iowa River, 10 miles north of Iowa City. He was walking 

 along in the timber, and in step})ing over a rotten log almost stepped upon the 

 Grouse. The eggs were carefully counted and tlie numljer found to be 

 twenty-three; they were almost hatched, aud were not disturbed. 



In form they are ovate, or short ovate, tlieir ground color varying from 

 milky white to pinkish buff. About one-half of the eggs in the U. S. National 

 Museum collection are more or less spotted with rounded dots, varying in size 

 from a No. 4 shot to mustard seed or dust shot. These markings vary from 

 pale reddish jjrowu to drab color, and none of the eggs are heavily marked. 



The average measurement of forty -four specimens in the U. S. National 

 Museum collection is 38.5 by 30 millimetres, the largest egg of the series 

 measuring 40 by 32, the smallest 33 by 25 millimetres. 



As there is practically no difference in the eg'gs of the geographical races 

 of the Ruffed Grouse, the type specimens figured have been selected with the 

 object of showing as nearly as jiossible the variations both in ground color and 

 markings, irrespective of race, similar specimens being sure to be found in a 

 sutficiently large series of each form. 



The type specimen oi Bonasa (imlicJlus (Ntt. 23308, PI. 2, Fig 1), selected 

 from a set of eight eggs collected by Mr. C. W. Richmond, near Harper's Ferry, 

 West Virginia, May 30, 1885, represents one of the lightest colored specimens 

 in the entire series, and is perfectly plain colored and unspotted. 



