THE RUFFED GROUSE 23 



in the thick growth and tall timber which made 

 his winter home. 



The burrowing habit is common to nearly all 

 northern grouse. With this species it is more 

 common in the extreme northern part of its 

 range, where the snowfall is heavier and the 

 snow itself less likely to ''crust." 



Rocky, birch-clad hillsides, deep ravines 

 with tangles of brush and slender streams wind- 

 ing through their depths, — the thickest, most 

 impenetrable cover that the woods afford — 

 these are their favorite spots. A finer game 

 bird, a brainier dweller in the wilds it is hard 

 to find. All the more so when he has made the 

 acquaintance of Nimrod and his hammerless 

 gun. This for the bird near civilization, for 

 if we believe all we hear of him in the ''big 

 woods" we shall have small respect for his 

 judgment. Still, we must make due allowance 

 in "a hunter's yarn," which, as we know, gives 

 us "the truth, the whole truth," — and as much 

 more as we can swallow. 



About April they begin to mate and the 

 woods resound with the "long roll" of the male, 

 "drumming" his serenade to the lady of his 



