A WINTER RESIDENT. 



THE RUFFED GROUSE. 



" The north wind doth blow, 

 And we shall have snow, 

 And what will poor robin do then ? 

 Poor thing ! 



" He'll sit in the barn, 

 And keep himself warm, 

 And hide his head under his wing, 



Poor thing ! " 



BUT Robin Hood's barn, where the ruffed grouse spends his 

 days and nights, is sometimes a very cold house, especially up 

 in Maine, where the mercury shrinks down into the bulb, and 

 the snow often lies level with the fences. No matter how 

 cold it is, the grouse never goes south ; no matter how deep 

 the . snow is, he must get a living of vegetable food, for never, 

 except in summer, when he catches a few grasshoppers, does 

 the grouse eat anything else. But what is there in the woods 

 in winter for the grouse to eat ? How does he get a living 

 when not a leaf, or berry, or green thing is above the snow ? 



If you are driving along country roads in early morning or 

 at nightfall, you may expect to see him gathering one of his two 

 daily meals. Up in a poplar, or a birch tree, he will be stand- 

 ing, snapping off the brittle ends of the twigs. Sticks, noth- 

 ing but sticks, are his supper. And for many months in the 

 year he feeds on sticks. Sometimes, in the city, warm even 



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