116 The Grouse Family 



attending to the slight construction thereof, and 

 hatching the eggs, devolves upon the female. 

 There is some difference of opinion about this, 

 but I am convinced that, as a rule, the male 

 deserts his mate so soon as the breeding season 

 is over. It may be that when, as sometimes 

 happens, there are but one male and one female 

 in a certain cover, they remain together, but I 

 have yet to flush two old birds with a brood of 

 chicks. The nest usually is well concealed, but 

 there are exceptions to this. It may be under a 

 log or an overhanging rock, between the roots of 

 a stump, or tree, in a thicket, a fallen top, under 

 a brush-pile, or exposed in an open spot. As an 

 architect the grouse has no claim to distinction; 

 a slight hollow scratched in the ground and 

 roughly lined with leaves, grass, or pine needles, 

 is all it requires. The eggs vary through shades 

 of buff with brown spots. The number ranges 

 from eight to about a dozen. The period of in- 

 cubation begins about the first of May and lasts 

 nearly four weeks. The hen sticks very close to 

 the nest, and if driven away seldom goes farther 

 than is absolutely necessary for her own safety. 

 The young run as soon as the down on them is 

 dry. They are very active and able to hide in 

 the merest trifle of cover. 



The hen grouse is a model mother. Until 

 the young are sufficiently strong to roost upon 



