﻿30 
  GROUSE 
  AND 
  WILD 
  TURKEYS 
  OF 
  UNITED 
  STATES. 
  

  

  femur-rubrum) 
  , 
  which 
  was 
  unusually 
  abundant 
  in 
  pastures 
  where 
  the 
  

   birds 
  foraged. 
  They 
  had 
  picked 
  up 
  also 
  long-horned 
  grasshoppers 
  

   (Xiphidium 
  sp.) 
  and 
  a 
  few 
  black 
  crickets. 
  Crickets 
  often 
  swarm 
  in 
  

   fields 
  during 
  fall, 
  and 
  offer 
  tempting 
  morsels 
  to 
  birds. 
  The 
  ruffed 
  

   grouse 
  occasionally 
  eats 
  such 
  caterpillars 
  as 
  cutworms, 
  army 
  worms, 
  

   cotton 
  worms 
  (Alabama 
  argillacea), 
  the 
  red-humped 
  apple 
  worm 
  

   (Schizura 
  concinna), 
  and 
  the 
  oak-leaf 
  caterpillar 
  (Symmerista 
  albi- 
  

   frons). 
  A 
  number 
  of 
  observers, 
  among 
  them 
  Doctors 
  Fisher 
  and 
  

   Weed, 
  report 
  that 
  it 
  feeds 
  on 
  oak 
  caterpillars. 
  

  

  The 
  ruffed 
  grouse, 
  like 
  the 
  bobwhite, 
  prefers 
  beetles 
  to 
  any 
  other 
  

   insects. 
  It 
  takes 
  almost 
  as 
  many 
  of 
  them 
  as 
  of 
  all 
  other 
  kinds 
  put 
  

   together, 
  including 
  even 
  such 
  small 
  ones 
  as 
  the 
  clover 
  weevil 
  (Sitones 
  

   hispididus) 
  . 
  It 
  likes 
  also 
  the 
  injurious 
  leaf-eating 
  beetles 
  (CJiryso- 
  

   melidce), 
  destroying 
  even 
  the 
  notorious 
  potato 
  beetle 
  {Leptinotarsa 
  

   decemlineata) 
  . 
  It 
  eats 
  the 
  pale-striped 
  flea 
  beetle 
  (Systena 
  blanda) 
  , 
  

   as 
  well 
  as 
  many 
  other 
  leaf 
  beetles, 
  including 
  /Systena 
  hudsonias. 
  

   Disonycha 
  caroliniana, 
  Chcetocnema 
  sp., 
  Galerucella 
  sagittariw, 
  and 
  

   the 
  grapevine 
  pest, 
  Adoxus 
  vitis. 
  By 
  scratching, 
  the 
  grouse 
  unearths 
  

   many 
  pests 
  not 
  found 
  by 
  other 
  birds, 
  notably 
  beetle 
  larvae, 
  click 
  

   beetles, 
  and 
  May 
  beetles, 
  including 
  Laehnostema, 
  hirsutd. 
  It 
  also 
  

   consumes 
  another 
  injurious 
  beetle, 
  Dichelonycha 
  sp., 
  closely 
  related 
  to 
  

   the 
  May 
  beetles 
  and 
  resembling 
  them 
  in 
  habits 
  and 
  appearance. 
  It 
  

   scratches 
  up 
  many 
  ground 
  beetles 
  belonging 
  to 
  Pterostichiis, 
  Aniso- 
  

   dactylus, 
  Harpalus, 
  and 
  other 
  genera. 
  Beetles 
  of 
  other 
  families 
  

   also 
  — 
  fireflies 
  (Lampyridw) 
  , 
  metallic 
  wood 
  borers 
  (Buprestidw), 
  and 
  

   Calitys 
  scabra 
  (Trogostidw) 
  — 
  are 
  in 
  the 
  food 
  list. 
  

  

  The 
  grouse 
  feeds 
  also 
  on 
  such 
  miscellaneous 
  insects 
  as 
  flies, 
  bugs, 
  

   ants, 
  and 
  such 
  other 
  Hymenoptera 
  as 
  sawflies 
  and 
  ichneumon 
  flies. 
  

   A 
  large 
  proportion 
  of 
  the 
  flies 
  are 
  slow-flying 
  species, 
  like 
  crane 
  flies, 
  

   which 
  are 
  preyed 
  upon 
  by 
  many 
  other 
  kinds 
  of 
  -birds. 
  Bugs, 
  how- 
  

   ever, 
  are 
  much 
  more 
  often 
  destroyed 
  by 
  bobwhite 
  and 
  the 
  ruffed 
  

   grouse 
  than 
  by 
  other 
  birds. 
  The 
  ruffed 
  grouse 
  has 
  been 
  known 
  to 
  

   prey 
  on 
  the 
  chinch 
  bug, 
  which 
  at 
  times 
  is 
  the 
  most 
  injurious 
  insect 
  

   in 
  our 
  country, 
  and 
  seldom 
  destroyed 
  by 
  any 
  except 
  gallinaceous 
  

   birds. 
  Farmers 
  who 
  permit 
  market 
  hunters 
  to 
  rob 
  them 
  of 
  their 
  

   game 
  should 
  remember 
  this 
  fact. 
  The 
  grouse 
  picks 
  up 
  also 
  many 
  

   other 
  bugs, 
  among 
  them 
  predaceous 
  species 
  like 
  the 
  ambush 
  bug 
  

   (Phymata 
  sp.) 
  and 
  the 
  assassin 
  bug 
  (Reduviidw). 
  They 
  eat 
  also 
  

   homopterous 
  insects, 
  including 
  leaf 
  hoppers 
  (Jassidce) 
  and 
  buffalo 
  

   tree 
  hoppers 
  (M 
  embracidce) 
  . 
  

  

  Like 
  many 
  other 
  birds, 
  the 
  ruffed 
  grouse 
  eats 
  ants, 
  frequently 
  

   including 
  such 
  large 
  species 
  as 
  Gamponotus 
  pennsylv 
  aniens. 
  Among 
  

   small 
  ants 
  may 
  be 
  mentioned 
  the 
  pavement 
  ant 
  (Tetramoriuni 
  

  

  