HABITS OF THE RUFFED GROUSE. 211 
handsome and upright in form, of a beautiful rich chestnut- 
brown color, variegated with gray and dark spots, and pen- 
cilings on the back, breast, and neck. The tail is gray, 
with a black bar across it near its termination, and is gen- 
erally carried open, like a fan. On the top of the head 
there is a slight crest, and down each side of the neck are 
curious fan-shaped tufts of glossy black velvet-looking 
RUFFED GROUSE. 
feathers, In April these birds pair, but I should imagine, 
from the seasons in the northern portion of the United 
States and Canada being more backward than ours, if they 
were introduced here they would do so a month earlier. 
They lay from ten to sixteen eggs, their nest, which is a 
very primitive one, being generally secreted in brush or 
under the shelter of a fallen log. They are most affection- 
ate parents, and use the same artifices as the wild duck to 
draw away the intruders from the vicinity of their youth- 
ful progeny. This grouse has two distinct calls, one a soft, 
