32 GROUSE AND WILD TURKEYS OP UNITED STATES. 



lock, the pitch pine, and the maple. The following miscellaneous 

 seeds are taken by the ruffed grouse : 



Blackberry lily (Belamcanda chi- Beech-drops (Leptamnium iiirgini- 



nensis). anum). 



Beggar-ticks {Bidens frondosa). Avens {Geuin sp.). 



Chickweed {Alsine media). Perslcaria (Polygonum pennsyl- 



Slieep sorrel (Rumex acetoseUa). vanioum). 



Sedge (Carcx lupuUna). Frost weed {Helianthemum cana- 



Sedge (Cijpcrus sp.). dense). 



Violet (Viola sp.). Jewel weed (Impatiens sp.). 

 Witcli-hazel (Eamamelis inrgini- 



ana). 



The list is interesting mainly for what it does not contain. Fur- 

 ther investigations may show that the ruffed grouse, like the bob- 

 white and other so-called granivorous species, is fond of ragweed, 

 sunflower, and grass seed. A grouse taken in British Columbia dur- 

 ing October showed a peculiar liking for the apparently dry husks 

 of geum seeds, no fewer than 500 appearing in its crop. 



BUDS AND LEAVES. 



The ruffed grouse spends most of its feeding time in browsing and 

 berry picking. It thus secures, respectively, 48.11 percent and 28.32 

 percent of its food. The country boy knows where it resorts for 

 budding, and often bags it without the aid of a dog or hammerless 

 gun. The buds and foliage of poplar, birch, and willow form 20.20 

 jiercent of the entire food. Budding is most practiced in winter 

 and early spring, when many other kinds of food are buried in snow. 

 Birch and poplar buds afford by far the largest share of this cold- 

 weather diet. Edward A. Preble says that in Canada in spring the 

 sitting hen grouse leave the nest, fly to poplar trees, rapidly fill 

 their crops with buds, and then hurry back to their eggs. He thinks 

 that the males, having plenty of time to spare at that season, prefer 

 to search for choicer food. The crop of a hen bird that he shot at 

 Fort Chipewyan, Athabasca, May 29, 1901, was filled with young 

 leaves of poplar (Populus halsamifera) . The number of buds to a 

 meal is surprising. A grouse shot at Palmer, Mich., December 15, 

 1894, contained 300 poplar buds. When engaged in budding, grouse 

 take both flower buds and leaf buds ; grown leaves of poplar also are 

 eaten, and, not infrequently, the flattened petioles that catch the 

 wind and give the leaves their characteristic quiver. Populus hal- 

 samifera, P. tremuloides, and P. grandidentata are among the species 

 on which they feed. Birch buds also are a staple; they are taken 

 from the canoe birch {Betula papyrifera), the gray birch {B. populi- 

 folia), the yellow birch {B. lutea), and the black birch {B. lenta). 

 Everybody who is familiar with New England woods has seen the 



