﻿34 
  geouse 
  and 
  wild 
  tukkeys 
  of 
  united 
  states. 
  

  

  year 
  and 
  grown, 
  and 
  it 
  is 
  well 
  fruited, 
  owing 
  to 
  the 
  budding 
  two 
  years 
  in 
  

   succession. 
  No 
  tree 
  could 
  have 
  been 
  more 
  entirely 
  budded, 
  but 
  the 
  grouse 
  can 
  

   not 
  stand 
  so 
  as 
  to 
  reach 
  the 
  outmost 
  terminal 
  buds, 
  as 
  a 
  rule 
  ; 
  their 
  weight 
  is 
  

   too 
  great. 
  

  

  The 
  present 
  investigation 
  of 
  stomachs 
  revealed 
  only 
  an 
  insignificant 
  

   percentage 
  of 
  apple 
  buds, 
  probably 
  because 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  grouse 
  exam- 
  

   ined 
  were 
  shot 
  in 
  places 
  remote 
  from 
  orchards. 
  The 
  bird 
  has 
  been 
  

   known 
  to 
  eat 
  also 
  pear 
  and 
  peach 
  buds, 
  and 
  probably 
  would 
  not 
  

   refuse 
  cherry 
  buds. 
  From 
  one 
  crop, 
  leaves 
  of 
  blackberry 
  or 
  raspberry 
  

   (Rubus 
  sp.) 
  were 
  taken, 
  and 
  bud 
  tw 
  T 
  igs 
  of 
  blueberry 
  (Vaccinium 
  

   pennsylvanicum) 
  and 
  other 
  species 
  were 
  not 
  at 
  all 
  uncommon. 
  The 
  

   twigs 
  severed 
  by 
  the 
  sharp-edged 
  bill 
  of 
  the 
  grouse 
  are 
  all 
  about 
  the 
  

   same 
  length, 
  one-third 
  of 
  an 
  inch. 
  They 
  appeared 
  in 
  the 
  stomachs 
  

   as 
  little 
  whitish 
  sticks, 
  from 
  which 
  digestion 
  had 
  removed 
  the 
  bark. 
  

   The 
  extent 
  to 
  which 
  the 
  ruffed 
  grouse 
  browses 
  on 
  leaves 
  and 
  twigs 
  

   suggests 
  an 
  herbivorous 
  mammal 
  rather 
  than 
  a 
  bird. 
  

  

  The 
  ruffed 
  grouse 
  feeds 
  on 
  leaves 
  and 
  buds 
  of 
  the 
  mayflower 
  

   (Epigaea 
  repens), 
  and 
  likes 
  exceedingly 
  the 
  leaves 
  of 
  the 
  partridge 
  

   berry 
  (Mitehella 
  repens). 
  It 
  nips 
  off 
  also 
  leaves 
  of 
  both 
  red 
  and 
  

   white 
  clover, 
  to 
  the 
  extent 
  of 
  1 
  percent 
  of 
  its 
  food. 
  It 
  is 
  partial 
  to 
  

   the 
  leaves 
  of 
  sheep 
  sorrel 
  (Rumex 
  acetosella), 
  which 
  it 
  cuts 
  across 
  as 
  

   sharply 
  as 
  if 
  by 
  a 
  pair 
  of 
  scissors, 
  but 
  it 
  eats 
  yellow 
  sorrel 
  (Oxalis 
  

   striata) 
  with 
  less 
  relish. 
  It 
  appears 
  to 
  like 
  dandelion 
  greens, 
  and 
  

   has 
  a 
  queer 
  taste 
  for 
  the 
  fronds 
  of 
  ferns 
  (Dryopteris 
  spinulosa, 
  

   Botrychium 
  obliquum, 
  and 
  Polypodium 
  vulgare). 
  In 
  its 
  relation 
  

   to 
  conifers 
  it 
  differs 
  widely 
  from 
  the 
  spruce 
  grouse, 
  for 
  it 
  derives 
  

   therefrom 
  only 
  an 
  insignificant 
  percentage 
  of 
  its 
  food, 
  while 
  the 
  

   spruce 
  grouse 
  obtains 
  nearly 
  50 
  percent. 
  Spruce 
  needles 
  and 
  foliage 
  

   of 
  arborvitae 
  (Thuja 
  occidental 
  is) 
  have 
  been 
  seen 
  in 
  several 
  stomachs. 
  

   Edw^ard 
  A. 
  Samuels 
  believes 
  that 
  the 
  ruffed 
  grouse 
  will 
  eat 
  leaves 
  of 
  

   evergreens 
  only 
  when 
  all 
  other 
  food 
  is 
  lacking. 
  In 
  Alaska, 
  E. 
  W. 
  

   Xelson 
  found 
  the 
  bird 
  feeding 
  exclusively 
  on 
  spruce 
  buds. 
  He 
  states 
  

   that 
  the 
  flesh 
  becomes 
  disagreeable 
  from 
  this 
  pitchy 
  diet. 
  5 
  The 
  effect 
  

   of 
  highly 
  flavored 
  food 
  on 
  the 
  flesh 
  of 
  game 
  birds 
  has 
  already 
  been 
  

   referred 
  to. 
  

  

  The 
  ruffed 
  grouse 
  buds 
  the 
  highly 
  poisonous 
  laurel 
  (Kalmia 
  lati- 
  

   folia) 
  . 
  On 
  this 
  subject 
  Alexander 
  Wilson 
  writes 
  : 
  c 
  

  

  During 
  the 
  deep 
  snows 
  of 
  the 
  winter, 
  they 
  have 
  recourse 
  to 
  the 
  buds 
  of 
  alder, 
  

   and 
  the 
  tender 
  buds 
  of 
  the 
  laurel. 
  I 
  have 
  frequently 
  found 
  their 
  crops 
  dis- 
  

   tended 
  with 
  a 
  large 
  handful 
  of 
  these 
  latter 
  alone; 
  and 
  it 
  has 
  been 
  confidently 
  

   asserted, 
  that, 
  after 
  having 
  fed 
  for 
  some 
  time 
  on 
  the 
  laurel 
  buds, 
  their 
  flesh 
  

   becomes 
  highly 
  dangerous 
  to 
  eat, 
  partaking 
  of 
  the 
  poisonous 
  qualities 
  of 
  the 
  

   plant. 
  

  

  a 
  Our 
  Northern 
  and 
  Eastern 
  Birds, 
  p. 
  387, 
  1883. 
  

   & 
  Nat. 
  Hist. 
  Coll. 
  in 
  Alaska, 
  p. 
  131, 
  1888. 
  

   c 
  Am. 
  Ornith., 
  vol. 
  II, 
  p. 
  319, 
  1831. 
  

  

  