Open Nests in Woods, Thickets, Swampy Thickets 
and in Canada as far north as the arctic timber line, where it lives a 
secluded life among the trees—spruce, larches, and fir trees being 
its favourites. 
As a game bird it is fairly well known, though its extreme 
tameness renders it by no means an exciting quarry. So tame is 
it that in some places it has been caught by means of a noose 
attached to the end of a fishing-rod. During the breeding season 
this bird drums, after the manner of the ruffed grouse. 
In Maine they breed in May. Incubation occupies 17 days. 
300. Ruffed Grouse: Bonasa umbellus (Linn.) 
Adult 6—General colour yellowish brown or rusty ; upper parts 
mottled with black and gray ; under parts light buff to 
white or buffy white on the belly, with irregular dark mot- 
tled bars, which are more pronounced on the breast and at 
the sides ; on either side of the neck are large tufts of black 
feathers, which may be distended at will. 
Adult 2 —Somewhat lighter than the 6, and with very small 
tufts on the neck. Length—17.00. 
Breeding Range—Throughout the Eastern States, from the higher 
regions of Georgia northward. 
The nest is on the ground, usually at the base of a tree, 
sometimes against a fallen log or under a bush. It is made of 
dead leaves with a few feathers, and is either very shallow or 
fully five inches deep inside. From 8 to 14 and rarely 16 eggs are 
laid ; they are creamy white, often much stained, and sometimes 
speckled with brown. Size—1.56 x 1.13. 
Under the different names of Ruffed Grouse, Pheasant, and 
Partridge this bird is well known to all sportsmen as perhaps the 
finest of our Eastern game birds. Its extraordinary habit of 
drumming has been the cause of many a surprise, and even of 
fright, to the novice, who, not knowing whence the sound pro- 
ceeded, has attributed it to all sorts of wild and ferocious animals. 
That it is really made by a bird is hard to believe. The sound is 
made by the rapid striking of the wings either against the sides 
of the body or against the air (this is a much-disputed question) 
while the bird is standing on a fallen tree or a low bush; and 
though this is the mating call, it may be heard throughout the 
shooting season in Maine and probably elsewhere. 
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