274 GROUSE 



There is good reason for supposing that the Ruffed Grouse is polyg- 

 amous, and that the male, if he drums in vain at one place, will fly 

 to another retreat and there seek the society of some more compliant 

 female. The young Grouse can run about as soon as they are hatched, 

 and can fly well when about a week old. Their mother is celebrated for 

 the variety of expedients she puts in practice to save her brood from 

 threatened danger, and their father has frequently been known to divide 

 the charge with her. The young usually continue with their parents till 

 the following spring, though it is rare at this time to see more than 

 three or four surviving out of the original twelve or fourteen. 



The food of this Grouse is largely insects and berries during the 

 summer; in the autumn it adds seeds to the list, and when the ground is 

 covered with snow the staples are catkins, leaves, and buds. Its toes 

 are provided during the winter with a curious fringe of strong, horny 

 points which act as snowshoes. In the northern part of its range this 

 bird commonly burrows into a snowdrift to pass the night during the 

 season of intense cold; but in summer and in the warmer region of its 

 range it roosts habitually among the thickets of evergreen. 



ERNEST T. SETON. 



300a. B. u. togata (Linn.}. CANADA RUFFED GROUSE. To be dis- 

 tinguished from the preceding by the prevailing color of the upperparts, 

 which are gray instead of rufous, and the more distinctly barred underparts, 

 the bars on the breast and belly being nearly as well defined as those on the 

 side; the tail is generally gray. 



Range. Cen. Keewatin, s. Ungava, and N. S., s. to Man., n. Mich., n. 

 Vt., N. H., and Maine, and in the mountains of N. Y., w. Mass., and n. 

 Conn.; birds indistinguishable from the eastern form occur from e. cen. 

 B. C. s. to e. Ore. and cen. Idaho. 



301. Lagopus lagopus lagopus (Linn.). WILLOW PTARMIGAN. Ad. 

 cf breeding plumage. Throat and chest, breast and sides rich rufous, chest 

 and sides more or less barred with black; upperparts, including tail-coverts, 

 black thickly but irregularly barred with ochraceous or rusty; tail 

 fuscous narrowly tipped with white (worn off in some July specimens); 

 primaries and secondaries white; tertials like; back; belly largely white. Ad. 

 d- in fall (preliminary winter) plumage. Similar to the; preceding, but with 

 a variable number of deep rufous feathers, vermiculated with black, on the 

 breast, sides, and upperparts; more white in wings and belly. Ad. <? in 

 winter. The preliminary winter plumage is a transition dress worn chiefly 

 in September and October, when it is gradually replaced by the full winter 

 plumage of snowy white with a fuscous, white-tipped tail. Ad. 9 breeding 

 plumage. Upperparts, tail and wings as in the male, but with less rufous, 

 or none, on the head and neck; throat, breast and sides ochraceous broadly 

 barred with black; center of belly paler with broken black bars. Ad. 9 in 

 fall (preliminary winter) plumage. Barred feathers of underparts largely 

 replaced by rufous, more or less vermiculated feathers, which also appear 

 in varying numbers on the upperparts. Resembles male in corresponding 

 plumage except for the remaining feathers of the breeding plumage. Ad. 9 

 in winter. Similar to winter male. L., 15'00; W., 7*50; T., 4'40; B. from 

 N., '42; depth of B. at N., '44. 



Remarks. The seasonal plumages of the species are as confusing as they 

 are interesting. It is not possible to treat them fully here, and the student 

 who would pursue the matter further is referred to Dwight's paper in The 

 Auk, 1900, 147- 163. Summer males and all fall plumage specimens may be 



