GROUSE. 127 



Grouse were at one time very abundant. The Ruffed Grouse 

 derives its name from the jetty plumage upon its neck, on either 

 side a space being left destitute of feathers, but covered over 

 by an erectile ruff of elongated feathers, of which the upper are 

 silky, shining, and curved forward at the end, which is very broad 

 and rounded. His local appellations in the different States are — 

 in the Western, pheasant ; Eastern, partridge ; Middle, pheasant ; 

 and Southern, ruffed grouse. In many States no one would 

 know of what you were speaking, and in fact we have met many 

 sportsmen that did not recognize the Ruffed Grouse by name. 

 This species flies with great ease, and never hesitates about cross- 

 ing a river or valley ; like nearly all the gallinaceous order, when 

 flushed it fiies with a whirring noise, generally in a direct course 

 from one to three hundred yards. They often, however, get up 

 quite silently, and it is only when alarmed that the peculiar rush 

 and rattle of their wings is heard. Being a solitary bird naturally, 

 he is very seldom found in packs, but generally in pairs. The for- 

 est that is the most secluded and dense is his home. These birds 

 may often be seen at a very early hour — say at eight o'clock — busy- 

 ing themselves scratching and dusting in the same manner as the 

 barnyard fowls. They are very fond of buckwheat, corn, beans, 

 grapes, strawberries and blackberries, and they often wander half 

 a mile from the hemlocks for these delicacies. In the winter and 

 spring they feed upon the buds of apple trees. In the severe win- 

 ters they are driven to great extremes for food, and will eat chest- 

 nuts and acorns, and sometimes laurel. In the low spruce by the 

 side of a log or stump this bird generally roosts. He invariably 

 makes a long flight and then a short one, previous to settling for 

 the night. When the snow lies upon the ground he settles in the 

 lower limbs, or else in the topmost branches, where it is so thick 

 the hunter cannot see him, and if seen the tree would be so tall 

 that No. 8 would not disturb him. Many of the small hawks de- 

 stroy the young. The mink and weasel catch the old birds, while 

 the fox kills the young. 



In winter, however, it is a rare thing for Reynard to make a 

 meal off a full-grown ruffed grouse. The Grouse seems incapable 

 of burying itself in the snow, while standing upon it, and invariably 

 does so by hurling itself into it from a height, and striking it at an 



