THE CANADIAN RUFFED GROUSE. 



Bv CH.\KLi:S MACNAMARA. 



Thk Canadian Ruffed Grouse (Boiiasa iimhclliis 

 to^iata), popularly known as the '" partridge," is 

 one of our most widely-distributed game birds, 

 being found wherever there are woods, from New 

 Brunswick to British Columbia, and as far north 

 as Hudson's Bay. It is a handsome grayish bird 

 of markedly gallinaceous appearance, some seventeen 

 inches long and of stout build. The extraordinary 

 "drumming" noise made by the male bird to eali 

 the female is familiar to everyone who frequents 

 the woods in the spring. To produce this remark- 

 able sound the bird stands on some slight elevation, 

 such as a log or a stone, and strikes the air strongly 

 with his outstretched wings. The first four or five 

 strokes, occurring at intervals of about half a second, 

 sound like blows on a rather dull bass drum, but 

 they rapidly get faster and faster until the sound 

 becomes continuous like the roll of a snare drum. 

 The whole performance lasts, perhaps, ten seconds, 

 and is repeated every few minutes for some time. 



In tile northern part of its range this bird has 

 anotlier peculiar habit : that of tunnelling into a 

 snowdrift for protection against the intense cold. 

 In order to begin its tunnel it sometimes walks 

 around, deliberateh' burrowing here and there into 

 the snow with its head until it finds a suitable 

 place, but its general procedure is to dive from an 

 elevated branch or directly off the wing into the 

 drift, the momentum of its plunge being sufficient to 

 drive it some little way into the soft snow, and thus 

 enable it to start its tunnel conveniently. Then, at 



a depth of three or four inches under the surface, it 

 scratches out a horizontal or slightly descending 

 passage about two feet long, the end of which it 

 enlarges into a roughly spherical chamber eight or 

 ten inches in diameter, the removed snow com- 

 pKlely Miieking up the entrance tunnel. Here the 



FiGUkE Ml. 

 The Canadian KuHed Grouse iBonasa uinbcUiis togata). 



The Snow Bnrrow of the Canadian Ruffed Grouse. 



At the lower right hand corner is the entrance to the burrow. In 

 this instance, the roof of the tunnel has sunk slightly, so that its 

 course can be traced on the surface. The hole to the upper left 

 hand is the terminal chamber, out of which the bird has burst. 

 The mark of its wing can be seen on the snow to the right of the hole. 



bird, apparenth" preferring hunger to cold, may 

 spend several days if the weather is severe. Except 

 for the one mark where the tunnel begins, the 

 surface of the snow- is quite undisturbed, and no 

 one would ever suspect that a live warm bird was 

 concealed in the drift. To leave its burrow, the 

 bird simply bursts out through the overlying layer 

 of snow, springing into immediate flight. 



One day last January, when the thermometer 

 stood 10° below zero F., I stopped a moment while 

 snowshoeing through the woods to examine a 

 curious isolated mark on the snow. At that instant 

 a " partridge " burst out just at the toes of my 

 snowshoes, and with a great whirr of wings dis- 

 appeared among the spruces. The mark I had 

 noticed was the entrance to the tunnel, and from 

 its appearance the bird had evidently been three or 

 four days in its burrow, and would doubtless have 

 remained there longer if my approach had not 

 frightened it out. Dry soft snow is, of course, an 

 excellent non-conductor of heat, and even in the 

 very coldest weather, the ruffed grouse is no doubt 

 quite comfortable in its immaculate chamber. 



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