154 BIRDS OF NORTH CAROLINA 



strokes of the wings upon the wood. Now, however, it is known that the sound 

 results from rapid wing-beats against the air. The bird may stand on a stump or 

 rock or anthill, but in no case could the effect be produced by beating its perch. 



No more gamey bird inhabits our upland woods. To hunt it means thicket shoot- 

 ing at a whirling brown mass, that rises with a roar and goes through the bushes 

 and saplings like a feathered cannon-ball. You may be a good shot at ducks from 

 a blind, or at quail in the open, but you must learn many things if you would 

 become a successful hunter of the Ruffed Grouse. 



Eight to fourteen eggs are laid, and the nest is usually well hidden in a fallen 

 tree-top, under a brush-pile, or at the base of a stump or tree. Sometimes, how- 

 ever, it is made in the open. The eggs blend well with the dead leaves, pine straw, 

 etc., with which the nest is lined. Incubation usually takes place in May. The 

 chicks, like the young of other related species, can run and hide almost as soon as 

 clear from the shell. As is the case with young turkeys, they are carefully guarded 

 from the wet by the mother. Dampness, perhaps, is the greatest cause of fatality 

 to which they are exposed. 



The food of the Ruffed Grouse is mast of various kinds, berries and buds, with 

 grasshoppers and other insect life. 



They usually roost in trees and often take refuge in the branches when flushed. 

 When the snow is deep they sometimes pass the night in it, going to roost with a 

 plunge through the surface. 



26. FAMILY MEI_EAGRID>E. TURKEYS 



Genus Meleagris (Linn.) 

 138. Meleagris gallopavo silvestris (Vieill). WILD TURKEY. 



Description. Glossy, coppery black, the wing-quills and secondaries slaty barred with white. 

 Tail gray, barred with black, and tipped with deep rusty instead of white, as in the domestic 

 turkey. This bird may be distinguished from the domestic turkey by the brownish instead of 

 white tips to the upper tail-coverts and tail. L., 48.00-50.00; W., 21.00; T., 18.50; Weight, 

 12-30 Ibs. 



Range. Eastern United States. 



Range in North Carolina. Permanent resident in all parts of the State. 



This, the largest and noblest game-bird found in the United States, is still fairly 

 common over a large area of North Carolina, wherever sufficient bodies of wood- 

 land suitable to its habits yet remain. It occurs from the mountains to the sea; 

 and even in the more thickly settled sections of the State. Where large bodies of 

 forest are yet spared, it lives and breeds and holds its own with remarkable tenacity. 

 Even in Wake County, within a few miles of the State capital, it still occurs 

 sparingly. In November, 1898, Pearson frequently saw these birds either on or in 

 the immediate vicinity of the campus of the State University at Chapel Hill. 



Common as it is in North Carolina, the inexperienced turkey hunter must 

 expect to see many more tracks and scratching-places than birds, as this is one of 

 the wariest denizens of our forests. All its senses capable of noting danger seem 

 ever on the alert, sight and hearing both being of the keenest. But once in a while 

 one may almost walk up to Turkeys in the open woods. 



