The Ruffed Grouse 129 



this time they frequently roost in the trees, 

 especially in vine-encumbered ones. After the 

 winter has fairly set in and the snow becomes 

 deep, most of the birds retire to lowlands, such as 

 heavily timbered swamps and extensive growths 

 of tall saplings. From these sanctuaries they 

 forage the surrounding more open country, speed- 

 ing back to the heavier cover when alarmed. In 

 regions of heavy snow, the birds creep into low, 

 snug growths and often allow themselves to be 

 deeply covered. They also never hesitate over 

 plunging into a drift and burrowing under to the 

 warmest of quarters. The track and the holes 

 made by the bird entering and leaving the snow 

 have been noted by most of the sportsmen who 

 go afield very late in the season. It has been 

 claimed that many grouse fall victims to crust, as 

 do the quail. Proof of this I have never seen in 

 spite of much winter shooting, but I have 

 repeatedly seen the holes in firm crust through 

 which the grouse had passed to freedom. It may 

 be that my experience has been an exceptional 

 one, but I have never found a dead grouse in the 

 woods that had not been either snared or shot. 



The flight of a big, strong grouse is the per- 

 sonification of headlong dash with power. It 

 rises with a sudden, thunderous whirring which 

 never fails to stir the very cockles of a veteran's 

 heart, and which plays the deuce with the nerves 



