Ruffed Grouse 155 



miscellaneous peculiarities of distribution and behavior which might assist some 

 other investigator. 



Widmann, in giving the distribution of grouse in Missouri, says that the 

 species is "never found on the wide ridges of the Ozarks." Just what he means 

 by "wide ridges" is hard to tell. Possibly he means that it is confined to the 

 broken slopes, but this distinction is not very evident on the ground. 



The disappearance of the ruffed grouse from the northern counties of Illinois 

 and southeast Wisconsin, compared with its persistence in the riverbreaks of west 

 central Illinois (see Map 13) indicates a preference for broken ground in what is 

 now the Agricultural Belt. That it has no such preference in the Forest Belt is, I 

 take it, well known. 



There is a puzzling absence of grouse from many islands in the Great Lakes 

 which are said have the appearance of being excellent range. (See Map 13.) 

 In Lake Superior they are absent from Isle Royale, although there are a few on 

 Grand Island. In Lake Michigan they are absent from Mackinac, and from Cham- 

 bers and Rock Islands in Green Bay. They were absent from Washington Island, 

 until planted there in 1900 by Deputy Warden William Barnhard. In Lake 

 Huron they are absent on Drummond and Espanore (but spruce hens formerly 

 occurred on Espanore and are now common on Drummond). Ruffed grouse 

 are found on Bois Blanc, Round Island, and the Les Cheneaux group. It would 

 appear that the smaller the island and the further from shore, the less the 

 probability of ruffed grouse. It should be noted, however, that even the small 

 islands contain uaits of seemingly suitable range very much larger than the wood- 

 lots in which the species successfully persists, in apparent isolation, further south. 

 The recent scarcity of ruffed grouse on the extreme tip of Door County peninsula, 

 and their failure to as yet recover from the last cycle, may parallel their absence 

 from the islands. 



It seems possible that islands and peninsulas are unduly exposed to migrating 

 hawks. On islands it is also possible that some old cycle made a clean sweep. 



Skipped Cycles. According to Oscar Nelson, of the State Game Farm 

 at Fish Creek, Door County, Wisconsin, ruffed grouse were "very abundant in 

 Door County about 1902. They fell off, due to a hard winter, and were found 

 dead both on and under the snow when it melted in the spring." He says 

 they have been scarce ever since. 



Speaking in terms of population curves, this behavior means that the curve 

 fell off to a trough, and stayed there, instead of climbing back to a peak. This 

 abnormal behavior may be designated as a skipped cycle. 



The same behavior was found in Sheboygan County, where Anderson and 

 Kade told me that ruffed grouse fell off about 1919, and have stayed down ever 

 since. The normal high occurred in the nearby Green Bay in 1923-24, but not 

 in Sheboygan County. 



Ledvina told me that a high period near Mountain, Oconto County, Wiscon- 

 sin, beginning 1909 and ending 1915, was still low in 1922. This possibly indi- 



