Burns, on Ruffed Grouse in Penn. 159 



century, in Chester and adjacent counties; yet he does not re- 

 m;emb;r having ever taken the Silver tail. I have examnied 

 several hundred birds in the meat taken in northern Penn- 

 svlvania previous to 1906 and found not more than one or 

 two in the grav phase. The past open season seems to have 

 b°en a failure in spite of the care taken to prevent forest fires 

 and rigorous enforcement of the game laws m the state. 

 Friends returning from Wayne and Cameron counties report 

 scarcely one old bird where there were a dozen last season 

 and practicallv no young at all. Of fourteen birds secured 

 but a single one was of the year. It appears that the late and 

 verv rainy spring proved extremely unfavorable to the breed- 

 in cr' of this hitherto supposed very hardy bird; few eggs 

 hatched and the nesting birds were attacked by a disease said 

 to resemble the roup, the sitting bird was frequently found 

 stiff and cold on her nest of addled eggs, others were picked 

 up fluttering and helpless in the woods unable to escape their 

 enemies. It seems scarcely possible that the Grouse had be- 

 come too thick to thrive ? 



