cannot follow the wings and there is a 

 haze-like appearance where they should 

 be. 



The male Grouse cares but little 

 for his mate after she begins the duties 

 of incubation, and by some authorities 

 he is believed to be polygamous. This 

 idea, however, was doubted by Major 

 Bendire. They have been seen in the 

 company of several females and it is 

 known that if they do not attract the 

 notice of a female in one place they 

 will seek another drumming site which 

 may be either a fallen, mossy log, an old 

 stump, a rock, or even a slight elevation 

 of ground. Major Bendire believed that 

 the drumming was performed as a sign 

 of bodily vigor and to notify the female 

 of his whereabouts. Sometimes a rival 

 male appears and there is a royaf 

 "rough-and-tumble fight" which often 

 results in the loss of feathers and the 

 drawing of blood. 



Deserted by her mate when the period 

 of incubation is near at hand, the mother 

 Grouse seeks a place to nest. She selects 

 a secluded spot at the base of a tree, 

 an old log, a rock, under the edge of 

 a brush pile, in a fence corner or in 

 the tangled underbrush near a stream. 

 They are also known to nest on open 

 ground where they would seem to be 

 unprotected except by their protective 

 colors. They have also been known to 

 nest in hollow stumps. The nests are 

 simply slight depressions scratched out 

 of the ground, and it is usually well 

 hidden. It is lined with dry grass, dead 

 leaves, feathers, pine needles or other 

 suitable materials that the immediate 

 environment may furnish. The mother 

 Grouse is a close sitter and seems to 

 rely for protection on the colors of her 

 plumage, which harmonizes perfectly 

 with the colors of her surroundings. 

 "Seated among last year's leaves, she 

 looks all of a piece with the carpeting 

 of the woods, and neither stirs a feather 

 nor winks an eye, though you stand 

 within two feet of her." Instances 

 have been recorded where a person has 

 stepped over the sitting bird without 

 knowing it until she had flown off the 

 nest behind him. No mother bird more 

 jealously or courageously cares for her 

 young than does the Ruffed Grouse. She 



will feign injury and use various other 

 tactics to draw the attention of an in- 

 truder from her young, which have 

 quickly hidden on hearing her shrill 

 squeal of warning. The young are able 

 to run about just as soon as they issue 

 from the shell. Her treatment of her 

 young brood is very similar to that of 

 the domestic hen. It is said that the 

 father Grouse sometimes assists in the 

 care of his young. As a rule, however, 

 he stays away and does not join in the 

 covey until in the fall, when the work 

 of the mother is finished. She calls 

 her downy brood with a cluck which is 

 not unlike that of our domestic fowl, 

 only that it is softer and more sub- 

 dued. There are few sights more 

 beautiful than a young Grouse family 

 feeding upon the berries and insects 

 which are found along some wood 

 road, or taking a dust bath for the 

 purpose of freeing themselves from the 

 woodticks, bird lice, bot-worms and 

 other parasitic pests. Suddenly surprise 

 such a family and quickly the sharp 

 alarm note of the mother will be heard 

 and the little ones disappear, to reap- 

 pear only when they hear her soft, re- 

 assuring cluck. 



Until the young are old enough to 

 roost in trees with the adults they sleep 

 upon the ground beneath the wings of 

 their mother. 



The food of the Grouse in summer 

 consists of insects, berries of various 

 kinds, chiefly wild; and in the autumn 

 of seeds and the foliage of plants, accord- 

 ing to Dr. A. K. Fisher, that of "clover, 

 strawberry, buttercup, wintergreen, and 

 partridge berry predominating." In the 

 winter they feed chiefly upon the buds of 

 trees, preferring, as stated by Dr. Fisher, 

 those of the apple, the ironwood, the 

 black and white birches and the poplar. 



Besides the habit of drumming this 

 popular and noble game bird has other 

 characteristics fully as interesting. Mr. 

 Thompson says : "Its toes are pro- 

 vided during the winter with a curious 

 fringe of strong, horny points which act 

 as snow shoes. In the northern part 

 of its range this bird commonly bur- 

 rows into a snowdrift to pass the night 

 during the season of intense cold, but in 

 the summer and in the warmer region of 



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