﻿BIRDS 
  OF 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  367 
  

  

  sanie 
  ; 
  under 
  parts 
  grayish 
  or 
  tawny 
  white 
  with 
  broad 
  obscure 
  bars 
  of 
  dusky, 
  

   becoming 
  broad 
  and 
  blackish 
  on 
  the 
  flanks. 
  Tlie 
  hen 
  is 
  smaUer, 
  with 
  shorter 
  

   tail 
  and 
  ruffs. 
  This 
  species, 
  like 
  the 
  Screech 
  owl, 
  exhibits 
  a 
  kind 
  of 
  dichro- 
  

   niatism, 
  some 
  specimens 
  having 
  a 
  prevailing 
  rufous, 
  or 
  reddish 
  brown 
  color 
  

   of 
  the 
  upper 
  parts, 
  especially 
  the 
  tail, 
  and 
  others 
  a 
  prevailing 
  gray, 
  which 
  is 
  

   not 
  by 
  any 
  means 
  confined 
  to 
  the 
  subspecies 
  t 
  o 
  g 
  a 
  t 
  a 
  , 
  but 
  is 
  exhibited 
  by 
  

   southern 
  birds 
  as 
  well, 
  both 
  types 
  of 
  color 
  often 
  occurring 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  brood. 
  

   Length 
  16-19 
  inches; 
  extent 
  23-25 
  ; 
  wing 
  7-8; 
  tail 
  5.5-7 
  ; 
  tarsus 
  1.5-1.6 
  ; 
  

   middle 
  toe 
  and 
  claw 
  i. 
  75-1. 
  9; 
  bill 
  about 
  .6; 
  weight 
  18-24 
  ounces. 
  

  

  Distribution. 
  The 
  Ruffed 
  grouse 
  was 
  formerly 
  common 
  in 
  every 
  county 
  

   of 
  New 
  York 
  from 
  Staten 
  Island 
  to 
  Mt 
  Marcy, 
  but 
  is 
  now 
  rare 
  in 
  the 
  more 
  

   thickly 
  settled 
  districts, 
  and 
  is 
  probably 
  extirpated 
  from 
  Richmond, 
  New 
  

   York 
  and 
  Kings 
  counties. 
  It 
  is 
  most 
  abundant 
  on 
  the 
  borders 
  of 
  the 
  Cats- 
  

   kills 
  and 
  the 
  highlands 
  of 
  western 
  New 
  York, 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  outskirts 
  of 
  the 
  

   Adirondack 
  country. 
  It 
  is 
  impossible 
  to 
  draw 
  definitely 
  the 
  boundary 
  between 
  

   the 
  Ruffed 
  grouse 
  proper 
  (u 
  m 
  b 
  e 
  1 
  1 
  u 
  s) 
  and 
  the 
  Canadian 
  ruffed 
  grouse 
  

   (togata), 
  as 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  continual 
  gradation 
  from 
  the 
  birds 
  of 
  south- 
  

   eastern 
  New 
  York 
  to 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  Adirondack 
  forests, 
  which 
  are 
  certainly 
  

   of 
  the 
  subspecies 
  togata. 
  Birds 
  from 
  the 
  highlands 
  of 
  eastern 
  and 
  

   western 
  New 
  York 
  are 
  intermediate 
  between 
  the 
  two. 
  

  

  Haunts. 
  The 
  Ruffed 
  grouse, 
  or 
  Partridge, 
  as 
  it 
  is 
  almost 
  universally 
  

   called 
  in 
  this 
  State, 
  and 
  "Pheasant" 
  further 
  south, 
  is 
  a 
  bird 
  of 
  the 
  wood- 
  

   lands. 
  It 
  prefers 
  rugged 
  hillsides 
  and 
  a 
  country 
  broken 
  with 
  gullies 
  and 
  

   small 
  streams, 
  with 
  a 
  mixed 
  growth 
  of 
  oak 
  and 
  pine, 
  or 
  of 
  hemlock, 
  beech, 
  

   birch 
  and 
  maple. 
  A 
  suitable 
  woods 
  for 
  grouse 
  has 
  dense 
  undergrowth, 
  

   and 
  the 
  birds 
  frequent 
  the 
  borders 
  of 
  the 
  forest, 
  or 
  the 
  edges 
  of 
  openings 
  and 
  

   slashings. 
  In 
  the 
  wooded 
  portions 
  of 
  the 
  State, 
  grouse 
  are 
  much 
  more 
  

   abundant 
  than 
  in 
  the 
  settled 
  districts, 
  but 
  even 
  there 
  they 
  are 
  most 
  often 
  

   found 
  about 
  the 
  burnt 
  tracts 
  or 
  recenth' 
  lumbered 
  districts, 
  where 
  there 
  

   is 
  both 
  an 
  abundant 
  cover 
  and 
  a 
  more 
  plentiful 
  supply 
  of 
  berries, 
  tender 
  

   plant 
  shoots 
  and 
  insects 
  than 
  in 
  the 
  depths 
  of 
  the 
  forest. 
  In 
  settled 
  districts 
  

   they 
  are 
  rapidly 
  becoming 
  uncommon, 
  as 
  their 
  native 
  coverts 
  disappear, 
  

   and 
  are 
  now 
  found 
  principally 
  in 
  the 
  wooded 
  swamps, 
  gullies 
  and 
  hill 
  slopes. 
  

   In 
  the 
  fall, 
  just 
  before 
  the 
  trees 
  drop 
  their 
  leaves, 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  dispersal 
  of 
  

  

  