CHAPTER VI. 
THE RUFFED GROUSE. 
The ruffed grouse—General description—Size and weight—Various 
names—Difficult of domestication—Favorite haunts—Few killed 
—How the males woo—Their drumming—Deceptive character 
of the sound—Theories on the drumming—Drumming season— 
The grouse considered a weather prophet—Severe contests be- 
tween the males—Feathered Knights and fair Helenas—Nests and 
eggs—Careful mothers—Pretentious cripples—Males are polyga- 
mous—Ruffed grouse never pack—Best time for shooting them— 
Wild in winter—Burrowing in the snow—How they are hunted— 
Best dogs for working them—Attachment of the males to the 
drumming logs—Different varieties of grouse—Abundance of the 
ruffed grouse on the Pacific Coast—Large numbers netted—The 
common form of trap—Lake Tahoe—Its wonders—Heavy trout— 
Profusion of wild fowl—A Western _hunter—A fire hunt—A pug- 
nacious stag—A young drummef=-A squirrel’s congress—A 
startled doe—How a grizzly was killed—Utility of a field-glass in 
searching for grouse—Our success with the birds. 
The ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus), which is found 
throughout Canada and the United States, from Hudson 
Bay to Texas, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean, 
derives its name of Bonasa, or little bull, from the sup- 
posed resemblance between its booming and the bellow- 
ing of a bull. This species may be readily recognized by 
the large ruffs of long, broad feathers on the neck, it be- 
ing the only one of the wood grouse that wears them. It 
has a horn-colored bill, which is black at the tip; the 
irides are brown; and the tail, which is moderately round- 
ed, is composed of eighteen broad, truncated feathers, 
about seven inches long. This grouse is devoid of the 
gular sacs; and the comb-like processes visible over the 
eyes of its congeners are replaced by a row of short, stif- 
fish feathers. The hue of the body varies much in dif- 
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