

RUFFED GROUSE PARTRIDGE 157 



titude of harmful insects and so would have done good 

 service to the farmer. 



Although grain has not been found in the crops of 

 any of these grouse, there is no doubt that it is eaten 

 when obtainable. The birds are often seen scratching 

 in the roads, presumably for oats dropped by the horses, 

 and I have vivid recollection of a partridge which one 

 winter could be started two or three times a day at the 

 head of a small pond where corn had been scattered 

 along the edge of the water to attract the black ducks. 

 This grouse frequented the place all through the winter 

 to feed on the scattered corn. 



In autumn, winter or spring it resorts to orchards to 

 feed on the buds of the trees, but it probably does no 

 harm in this way. Buds and the leaves of poplar, 

 birch, ironwood and willow form a large portion of 

 the food of the grouse. It is said that the buds of the 

 black birch are sometimes eaten so largely that they 

 impart a taste to the bird's flesh. In Alaska, E. W. 

 Nelson found the grouse feeding on spruce buds and 

 declared that the flesh had become bitter from this diet. 

 There was long a belief that the flesh of the ruffed 

 grouse was sometimes poisonous because it ate the buds 

 of the laurel. The statement was made by Alexander 

 Wilson, and cases are quoted by Mr. Judd to show 

 that there is a foundation for the belief. On the other 

 hand, grouse which had fed on laurel have been eaten 

 without any resulting harm. It is quite possible that 

 where injury has resulted, it came from leaving the 

 bird undrawn for a long time after death, when the 



