THE GROUSE FAMILY 57 



the symptoms of gout or apoplexy. Mr. Manross has had 

 birds, after being kept two or three years, plump and ap- 

 parently healthy, which would go to roost and suddenly fall 

 off dead. 



Pugnacity. Another difficulty is that the males are ex- 

 cessively pugnacious. Toward spring they begin to fight 

 terribly, when they are with hens, killing one another, until 

 only the strongest cock survives, and he may be so crippled 

 that he is useless. So the only way is to build at least a 

 fair-sized separate enclosure for each pair. To some extent, 

 at any rate, the ruffed grouse seems to be polygamous, so the 

 cock can be put with more than one hen. If there are males 

 enough, however, it is safer to pair them. 



Attacks the Hen. Another of the numerous obstacles to 

 the propagation of the ruffed grouse in confinement is that 

 the cock is often brutally severe with the hen in mating; 

 sometimes she gets scalped or maimed, and even killed. 

 At times the hen is saved only by removing the cock. 

 Doctor Hodge believes that the cock should always be re- 

 moved immediately after mating. 



I once witnessed an accident which is very instructive in 

 this connection. Having found the nest of a grouse in the 

 woods, I had set a camera for a photograph. The hen re- 

 turned to the nest and from behind a tree I was about to 

 pull the thread to release the shutter when suddenly the 

 male appeared, behind the nest, every feather bristled out 

 like a turkey gobbler. Stealing around in front, he made a 

 sudden violent rush at the hen. She flew off the nest like a 

 shot, and was gone about half an hour. The old rascal with- 

 drew, waited for her, and tried, with the same result, to rush 

 her when she returned. Had she been in a pen she would 

 have been at his mercy. Doctor Hodge believes that one 

 mating suffices for a set of eggs. He also found that if the 



