60 FEATHERED GAME 
gradually spreading northward as well as west- 
ward. We northerners may well be pleased to 
gain such gallant little citizens. In these new 
surroundings they are said to be taking more 
and more to grouse habits, both in strategy and 
in mode of life, evincing a disposition to hide in 
trees when much harried, and for the night— 
traits which are not common further south. 
All through the fall and winter months the 
birds keep together in good-sized flocks, but 
at the approach of the breeding season the peace 
and quiet of the covey is changed for fierce and 
savage contests among the males in strife for 
the favors of their charmers. The covey be- 
gins to break up, and as each valiant little 
knight wins his fair lady by force of arms they 
seek together some fitting nook in the fence 
corner or in the edge of the brush and there 
make their home. About May they begin to 
build their nest, making it upon the ground, of 
leaves and dry grasses. Often it is deep and 
cup-shaped, sometimes domed over and hav- 
ing an entrance on the side. The number of 
eggs varies. Probably ten youngsters to a 
brood is a liberal estimate for the north, though 
anywhere from twelve to twenty eggs or even 
