﻿BUFFED 
  GROUSE. 
  31 
  

  

  ccBspitum). 
  Several 
  species 
  of 
  the 
  useful 
  parasitic 
  ichneumons 
  are 
  

   occasionally 
  taken, 
  and 
  as 
  an 
  offset 
  such 
  foliage-destroying 
  insects 
  

   as 
  sawflies, 
  including 
  adult 
  forms 
  of 
  Nematus 
  sp. 
  and 
  larvae 
  of 
  

   Lophyrus 
  sp. 
  A 
  peculiar 
  long-bodied 
  hymenopteron 
  (Pelecinus 
  

   sp.) 
  also 
  has 
  been 
  noted. 
  The 
  queerest 
  article 
  of 
  food, 
  perhaps, 
  is 
  

   the 
  galls 
  produced 
  by 
  insects 
  (Cynipidce). 
  The 
  ruffed 
  grouse 
  shows 
  

   a 
  marked 
  liking 
  for 
  these 
  odd 
  growths, 
  which 
  contain 
  a 
  few 
  tiny 
  

   larva?. 
  The 
  common 
  semidomestic 
  pheasant 
  of 
  England 
  has 
  the 
  

   same 
  taste. 
  The 
  grouse 
  usually 
  selects 
  galls 
  growing 
  on 
  oaks, 
  often 
  

   those 
  produced 
  by 
  species 
  of 
  the 
  genus 
  Amphibolips. 
  A 
  bird 
  shot 
  

   in 
  Lunenburg, 
  Mass., 
  in 
  October 
  had 
  eaten 
  12 
  of 
  these 
  oak 
  galls, 
  

   although 
  at 
  that 
  time 
  other 
  food 
  was 
  abundant. 
  

  

  Few 
  invertebrates 
  other 
  than 
  insects 
  were 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  investiga- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  the 
  food 
  of 
  the 
  grouse. 
  The 
  miscellaneous 
  animal 
  food, 
  how- 
  

   ever, 
  included 
  representatives 
  of 
  such 
  Myriapoda 
  as 
  the 
  thousand-legs, 
  

   of 
  the 
  order 
  Diplopoda, 
  and 
  such 
  Arachnida 
  as 
  harvest 
  spiders 
  

   (Phalangidce), 
  jumping 
  spiders 
  (Attidre), 
  and 
  ground 
  spiders 
  

   (Lycosidce) 
  ; 
  snails 
  of 
  the 
  genus 
  Helix, 
  and 
  also 
  shell-less 
  snails, 
  or 
  

   slugs, 
  including 
  Limax 
  sp. 
  and 
  Tebennophorus 
  carolinensis. 
  

  

  Vegetable 
  Food. 
  

  

  The 
  vegetable 
  food 
  examined 
  consisted 
  of 
  11.79 
  percent 
  of 
  seeds, 
  

   28.32 
  percent 
  of 
  fruit, 
  48.11 
  percent 
  of 
  buds 
  and 
  leaves, 
  and 
  0.86 
  

   percent 
  of 
  miscellaneous 
  vegetable 
  matter. 
  Grain 
  was 
  not 
  found, 
  

   though 
  no 
  doubt 
  it 
  would 
  be 
  eaten 
  if 
  obtainable. 
  In 
  fact, 
  Major 
  

   Bendire 
  says 
  that 
  grouse 
  procure 
  it 
  along 
  roads 
  from 
  the 
  droppings 
  

   of 
  horses. 
  a 
  

  

  The 
  seed 
  element 
  of 
  the 
  food 
  is 
  mast 
  and 
  miscellaneous 
  seeds. 
  The 
  

   mast 
  — 
  5.33 
  percent 
  — 
  consists 
  of 
  hazelnuts, 
  beechnuts, 
  hornbeam 
  seeds, 
  

   chestnuts, 
  and 
  acorns. 
  The 
  last, 
  furnishing 
  by 
  all 
  odds 
  the 
  

   largest 
  supply, 
  includes 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  scrub 
  oak 
  (Quercus 
  nana), 
  scrub 
  

   chestnut 
  oak 
  (Q. 
  prinoides), 
  white 
  oak 
  (Q. 
  alba), 
  and 
  red 
  oak 
  (Q. 
  

   rubra). 
  Acorns 
  are 
  often 
  swallowed 
  whole, 
  half 
  a 
  dozen 
  to 
  a 
  dozen 
  

   at 
  a 
  meal 
  being 
  not 
  uncommon. 
  Beechnuts 
  also 
  are 
  taken 
  whole, 
  and 
  

   from 
  20 
  to 
  60 
  are 
  sometimes 
  found 
  in 
  a 
  crop. 
  

  

  Miscellaneous 
  seeds 
  make 
  up 
  6.46 
  percent 
  of 
  the 
  entire 
  food. 
  Like 
  

   many 
  other 
  gallinaceous 
  birds, 
  the 
  ruffed 
  grouse 
  takes 
  some 
  legumi- 
  

   nous 
  seeds, 
  though 
  fewer 
  than 
  might 
  be 
  expected. 
  The 
  kinds 
  known 
  

   to 
  have 
  been 
  eaten 
  are 
  the 
  tick-trefoil 
  (Meibomia 
  sp.), 
  so 
  abundant 
  

   in 
  the 
  edge 
  of 
  woods 
  frequented 
  by 
  grouse, 
  and 
  vetch 
  (Vicia 
  caro- 
  

   liniana) 
  . 
  Winged 
  seeds 
  are 
  often 
  sampled, 
  such 
  as 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  hem- 
  

  

  aLife 
  Hist. 
  N. 
  A. 
  Birds, 
  [I], 
  p. 
  62, 
  1892. 
  

  

  