78 WINTER FOOD OF THE PARTRIDGE.—SOMERS. 
ART. X.—ON THE WINTER Foop OF THE PARTRIDGE AND ON 
PARTRIDGE Porsontnc. By J. Somers, M. D., F. BR. M.S. 
President. 
THE “ Partridge,” so-called, (Bonassa umbellus) or ruffled grouse, 
is like its congeners, Ommnivorous, its food range being what we 
may term a wide one, embracing, as it does, the products both of 
the animal and vegetable kingdoms. 
In the spring and summer its food consists of msects—ova 
larva or perfected, of molluses, principally pulmenata (snails),and 
a wee-toad or frog does not come amiss. From the vegetable 
kingdom various seeds and wholesome berries, in the early 
autumn the blueberry and huckleberry, vacciniei, constitute a 
staple article of its food; later on the bird subsists principally 
upon beech mast, and during the months of October and Novem- 
ber the crops of partridges secured by sportsmen and others 
rarely contain any other food. As we advance towards winter 
the diet of the partridge becomes more and more restricted, and 
when the season is well established, and heavy falls of snow. cov- 
er the ground in woods and open, then our partridge is con- 
strained to banquet upon food material that is most within its 
physiological requirements and nearest to its reach. 
At this season the crop of this bird will be found to contain 
broken catkins of the birch, “ Betula excelsa,’ broken fronds of. 
shield fern, “Aspidiwm spinulosum,” and leaves and berries of 
sheep laurel, “Kalmia angustifolia,” the proportionate quanti- 
ties being about nine-tenths of birch catkins and one-tenth fern 
fronds and kalmia leaves, the proportion of the latter, how- 
ever, always exceeding that of the fern, as you may observe by 
examining the three partridge crops presented to you; you will 
notice that the fern fronds are beautifully fresh and green. 
Having been scratched by the birds from beneath the snow, 
which preserves them in this condition all through the winter, 
there is little room for doubt in regard to the reason why the 
birds seek for and partake of these fern fronds; for though they 
