UPLAND GAME BIRDS: THE GROUSE 



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grouse, spruce grouse and heath hen of the East and the 

 dusky or blue grouse, the Franklyn's grouse, the prairie 

 chicken, sharp-tailed grouse and sage grouse of the 

 West. The northern ptarmigan are represented in 

 Colorado by what is locally known as "white quail," a 

 southern form of the white-tailed ptarmigan. 



The most generally known and the finest of all the 

 game birds is the ruffed grouse which, in one or another 

 of its forms, is found in wooded districts from Virginia 

 to Alaska. It gets its name from tufts of large black 

 or brown feathers on the sides of the neck which can 

 be lifted and spread until the head is framed as in an 

 Elizabethan ruff. The broad banded tail is always 

 spread when the bird flys and is one of the simplest ways 

 of distinguishing it from a female pheasant or any 

 other of the game birds. 



Before they learn the fear of man and the gun, ruffed 

 grouse are tame birds and merely walk out of one's way 

 along the forest trails, but it takes but very little hunting 



Photograph by G. C. Embody 



NATURE'S METHOD OF PRESERVING GAME 



The grouse lay from nine to eighteen eggs, providing for the loss due to 

 their numerous enemies. 



before they become shy and tax the utmost skill of the 

 hunter. Owing to excessive hunting grouse have become 

 extremely scarce in many localities and during the past 

 few years, their numbers have been very seriously 

 depleted throughout most of their range. The exact 

 cause for this is not known, but a very plausible theory 

 has been advanced by Mr. John Burnham in the Janu- 

 ary Bulletin of the American Game Protective Associa- 

 tion. He points out that there occurs a periodic diminu- 

 tion of the grouse every ten years owing to the invasion 



from the north of large numbers of goshawks and 

 great-horned owls which are forced out of their normal 

 northern homes by the failure of the rabbit supply which 

 in turn is due to a periodic epidemic. Such an invasion 

 of hawks and owls has occurred during the past two 

 winters. Besides this we might point out that May and 

 June during the past two years have been remarkably 

 cold and wet and thus unfavorable for the rearing of 



Photograph by H. L. Sharp 



JUST OUT 



In getting out of the shell the young grouse remove a neat circular bit 

 from the large end of the egg. The tiny egg tooth can be seen on the 

 tip of their bills. Young grouse can run as soon as hatched and follow 

 the mother like little chickens. 



young. Indeed in most places, very few birds of the 

 year have been taken by hunters during the past two 

 years and the inroads made by hunters as well as by 

 vermin on the old birds has quickly shown itself. So 

 much so, in fact, that it will probably be necessary to 

 close the season on grouse for a couple of years so that 

 they can recuperate. 



The most interesting characteristic of the ruffed grouse 

 is its habit of drumming. The cock bird selects some 

 fallen log to which he returns often for years. Drum- 

 ming is at its height during the spring, but even after the 

 breeding season on bright days during the fall and winter 

 the old cock may come back to his favorite log. The 

 drumming sound, which begins with a measured thump 

 thump thump and ends with a loud whirring sound, 

 like the muffled sound of a motorcycle engine, is made 

 by the cock beating the air with his wings. Bracing 

 himself on the log with his tail and standing erect, he 

 first strikes his wings together behind his back pro- 

 ducing the thump thump thump noise of a big drum. 

 Then as his wings vibrate faster and faster, the whirring 

 sound that can sometimes be heard for half a mite, is 



