72 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



RUFFED GROUSE. 



A. O. \/. JWo. 300. CBonasaambellaj.) 



RANGE. 



Resident in northeastern United States, ranging from southern Canada 

 south to Georgia, and west to Mississippi, Arkansas and Minnesota, 



DESCRIPTION. 



Length i6 inches; extent 23 inches; tail 6.5 inches. Bill dark gray. 

 Legs feathered nearly to toes; feet brown. Eye brown. Weight from i6 

 to 26 ounces. The Ruffed Grouse is subject to a red and gray phase, the 

 same as the Screech Owl. The gray is by far the most common. In the 

 red phase, gray is replaced by the red, being brightest on the rump and tail, 



Male, — Top of head, neck, back and wings brownish barred with white. 

 Rump and tail gray, the former covered with lengthened spots of buff 

 edged with black, and the latter barred irregularly with brownish bands 

 and terminated by a broad black band, edged on both sides with a band of 

 gray. Throat and breast, buff shading into white on under parts. Breast 

 and sides barred with brown. Ruff, broad and glossy black. 



Female. Similar to male except that the ruffs are small and brown, and 

 sometimes lacking. 



NEST AND EGGS. 



The nest is placed beneath a fallen tree, under an overhanging stone, in 

 a brush heap, or at the foot of a tree. It is generally located near the 

 edge of the woods or near a clearing, it is simply a depression in the 

 leaves, sometimes lined scantily with a few pine needles or feathers. 

 The eggs are laid from the middle of April to the middle of May. They 

 lay one a day until the complement is complete. Incubation lasts from 

 three to four weeks. The number of eggs varies from seven to fifteen. 

 They are cream color, varying in shade from almost white to a rich buff, 

 in some cases. 



HABITS. 



Ruffed Grouse, the king of Ameri- tions as this one, and it is due solely 



can Game Birds. He inhabits chief- to their craftiness that any are left 



ly heavy timbered districts, and is about the more thickly settled cities 



commonly but erroneously k'nown in and towns. Originally and even now 



New England as the Partridge, and in sparsely populated districts, they 



in the south as the Pheasant. These are quite tame and will allow them- 



grouse furnish an excellent example selves to be approached to within a 



of the cunning that a bird will de- few yards, merely staring curiously 



velop if forced to. No other bird at you. But how this changes with 



has been subjected to such persecu- the advance of civilization. Ever on 



