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NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



grouse in all directions from the locality where they were reared. They 

 then appear in unusual places and even enter the villages and cities. At 

 this time of the }-ear, many suppose that grouse become bewildered, and 

 they certainly exhibit strange instincts at this season. Many instances 

 are recorded of their having flown directly into cities and through plate 

 glass windows or into houses in the country, or standing stupidly on the 



Phot*) by James H . Miller 



Ruffed grouse on nest 



]X)rch like tame chickens when people were about, or of alighting in trees 

 over much frequented sidewalks and staring at people passing underneath, 

 or being flushed from a garden or dooryard and flying directly against the 

 side of a bam nearby. I am inclined to think that grouse at this season 

 are not afflicted by any nervous disease, but have an instinct to wander 

 into new localities, an impulse which is of great value to the species in 

 restocking depleted coverts, and in introducing new strains of blood in 



