376 Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin 



NESTING OF THE RUFFED GROUSE 



The Nest and Eggs. All the nests I have found of the Ruffed 

 Grouse have been in dry parts of the woods. Most of them were 

 built close beside a log or at the base of a sizeable tree; a few 

 were sheltered only by fallen brush or branches. In every case the 

 nest itself was well hollowed and well lined with dry leaves or pine 

 needles. 



The eggs are of a clouded or dusky cream color, usually more or 

 less freckled with small spots a few shades darker. With two 

 exceptions, the nests I have found contained from 8 to 13 eggs. 

 One nest was found when only the first egg had been laid. 



On May 14, 1922, near Blossvale, N. Y., I made quite a different 

 but not less remarkable find. Upon discovering a sitting grouse on 

 May 13, I had stolen away without flushing her. The next day I 

 took along two children who were bird enthusiasts to share the 

 sight, little thinking what a rare spectacle was in store for us. The 

 sitting grouse was only slightly screened by a thin lattice of brush 

 and the nest was so close to the base of a tree that the tail of the 

 sitter touched the bark, — a typical location. At a distance of 

 twenty feet we stood admiring the picture. One, two, three minutes 

 she sat, her large eyes turned on us, as motionless throughout as 

 any statue in bronze. Then she suddenly and noisily rushed from 

 the nest a distance of a foot or two and sprang into the air with a 

 vigor and noise of flying leaves that was remarkable even in a 

 grouse. (This manner of departure is so frequent an occurrence 

 that I am satisfied it is not wholly by accident that the eggs are com- 

 monly strewn with leaves. I remember one nest which had been 

 thus completely covered over with leaves, and entirely hidden, al- 

 though I had just flushed the -sitting bird.) We hastened to look 

 into the nest. A leaf or two had been fanned onto the eggs. The 

 latter formed a single saucer-shaped layer more than covering the 

 bottom of the leaf-lined hollow. One, two, three — we counted; 

 thirteen, sixteen ! twenty ! ! — the largest clutch I have ever seen. 



On May 28 the grouse was still sitting; the eggs were unhatched. 

 On June 2 the nest had only empty shells and two unhatched eggs. 

 The shells were mostly in two pieces only. A systematic search 

 through the woods failed to disclose the brood ; they had evidently 

 gone at least 150 yards from the nest. 



Making Friends With a Ruffed Grouse Chick. On May 28, 

 I found, one hundred yards from the nest of twenty eggs just men- 

 tioned, an old grouse and her brood of two or three days old. 

 Employing the hiding and calling tactics described elsewhere in this 

 paper, two of the young were caught. One was taken from the 

 woods and photographed in the hands of my daughter (figure 121). 

 Two hours later we brought it back to the woods, where, after feed- 

 ing it several flies and other insects, we let it go free. Then came 

 the big surprise. Instead of running away into hiding it at once 

 began to follow us, puppy-like, stopping when we stopped, soon 

 finding and catching up to us if we hurried ahead. When we sat 



