208 GRAY LADY AND THE BIRDS 
in the orchard, by removing too many buds from a single 
tree. In winter and early spring, when other food is 
buried by the snow, and hard to obtain, the Grouse lives 
largely on the buds and green twigs of trees; but, as spring 
advances, insects form a considerable part of the food. 
The young feed very largely on insects, including many 
very destructive species.” 
— E. H. Forsusu, in Useful Birds and Their Protection. 
THE RUFFED GROUSE 
When the pallid sun has vanished 
Under Osceola’s ledges, 
When the lengthening shadows mingle 
In a sombre sea of twilight, 
From the hemlocks in the hollow 
Swift emerging comes the Partridge; 
Not a sound betrays her starting, 
Not a sound betrays her lighting 
In the birches by the wayside, 
In her favoured place for budding. 
When the twilight turns to darkness, 
When the fox’s bark is sounding, 
From her buds the Partridge hastens, 
Seeks the soft snow by the hazels, 
Burrows in its sheltering masses, 
Burrows where no Owl can find her. 
— Frank BO.LteEs. 
“You all know the path that runs by the grist-mill 
and up through the river woods. In spring, I could 
almost count upon seeing a Grouse or two when I took 
that walk, and very early, of September and October 
