246 OUT WITH THE BIRDS 



discern his foes. It is true that as a rule he has 

 no great discernment, and it must be admitted 

 that he is not burdened with a superabundance 

 of brains. All too frequently he allows himself 

 to be potted by some shooter in a buggy, but it 

 may be said truly that late in the fall, when he is 

 in the trees, he is at least wilder than at any other 

 time of the year. 



The question of winter food is never a big 

 problem with these grouse. There is always an 

 abundance of hawthorn hips, rose fruit, snow- 

 berries, or other winter-cured fruits ; in addition 

 to these, edible buds of many kinds are in abun- 

 dance. Best of all, they seem to relish the sweet- 

 ish, frost-ripened berries of the dwarfish snow- 

 berry that peep above the snow just far enough 

 to invite picking. Of the tree-buds, poplar, wil- 

 low, and dwarf birch are winter staples, and these 

 are consumed in great quantities. The amount 

 of these foods that is required to keep up the 

 heat in their plump bodies is very considerable. 

 An examination of the night burrows reveals the 

 large amount of material that is worked upon by 

 their digestive apparatus during the fourteen to 

 sixteen hours in which they occupy it. Natu- 

 rally, best of all, they love grain food, preferably 



