﻿36 
  GKOUSE 
  AND 
  WILD 
  TURKEYS 
  OF 
  UNITED 
  STATES. 
  

  

  The 
  taste 
  for 
  rose 
  hips, 
  seedy 
  and 
  husky 
  as 
  they 
  are, 
  and 
  often 
  

   beset 
  with 
  fine 
  bristles 
  which 
  irritate 
  the 
  human 
  skin 
  and 
  would 
  seem 
  

   really 
  dangerous 
  to 
  internal 
  tissues, 
  is 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  singular 
  freaks 
  of 
  

   bird 
  feeding. 
  It 
  reminds 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  cuckoo's 
  liking 
  for 
  caterpillars 
  

   which 
  are 
  so 
  bristly 
  that 
  its 
  stomach 
  becomes 
  actually 
  felted 
  and 
  

   sometimes 
  pierced 
  by 
  the 
  stiff 
  hairs. 
  Rose 
  hips 
  hang 
  on 
  the 
  bushes 
  

   throughout 
  the 
  winter, 
  accessible 
  to 
  the 
  hungry 
  grouse 
  as 
  they 
  journey 
  

   about 
  in 
  the 
  snow 
  for 
  food, 
  and 
  are 
  usually 
  swallowed 
  whole. 
  

  

  The 
  bird 
  likes 
  grapes 
  also. 
  No 
  less 
  than 
  3.01 
  percent 
  of 
  the 
  year's 
  

   diet 
  consists 
  of 
  them, 
  and 
  in 
  November 
  they 
  make 
  17.2 
  percent 
  of 
  the 
  

   total 
  food 
  for 
  the 
  month. 
  All 
  experienced 
  sportsmen 
  know 
  of 
  this 
  

   taste, 
  and 
  during 
  this 
  month 
  they 
  always 
  count 
  on 
  getting 
  their 
  best 
  

   shooting 
  in 
  the 
  vicinity 
  of 
  heavily 
  fruited 
  grapevines. 
  The 
  wild 
  

   grapes 
  with 
  small 
  berries, 
  such 
  as 
  Vitis 
  cordifolia, 
  are 
  especially 
  liked, 
  

   but 
  also 
  large 
  grapes 
  are 
  greatly 
  relished. 
  The 
  species 
  from 
  which 
  

   cultivated 
  varieties 
  have 
  been 
  derived 
  (Vitis 
  labrusea) 
  appears 
  to 
  be 
  

   commonly 
  selected. 
  Thirty 
  to 
  forty 
  grapes 
  are 
  often 
  swallowed 
  at 
  

   a 
  meal. 
  From 
  this 
  taste 
  one 
  might 
  expect 
  the 
  grouse 
  to 
  commit 
  dep- 
  

   redations 
  on 
  cultivated 
  grapes, 
  but 
  no 
  reports 
  of 
  such 
  damage 
  have 
  

   come 
  to 
  the 
  Biological 
  Survey. 
  

  

  Like 
  many 
  other 
  birds, 
  the 
  ruffed 
  grouse 
  eats 
  the 
  berries 
  of 
  sumac 
  

   and 
  other 
  species 
  of 
  Rh 
  us. 
  This 
  food 
  contributes 
  2.46 
  percent 
  of 
  the 
  

   year's 
  diet. 
  Among 
  the 
  nonpoisonous 
  sumacs 
  selected 
  are 
  the 
  chvarf 
  

   sumac 
  (Rhus 
  eopaUina). 
  the 
  staghorn 
  sumac 
  (R. 
  hirta)< 
  and 
  the 
  

   scarlet 
  sumac 
  (R. 
  glabra). 
  Not 
  uncommonly 
  from 
  300 
  to 
  500 
  berries 
  

   of 
  the 
  dAvarf 
  sumac 
  are 
  swallowed 
  at 
  a 
  meal. 
  This 
  liking 
  for 
  the 
  dry 
  

   and 
  apparently 
  nonnutritious 
  sumac 
  is 
  another 
  curious 
  freak 
  of 
  bird 
  

   appetite. 
  Probably, 
  as 
  with 
  the 
  bobwhite, 
  the 
  seeds 
  are 
  broken 
  up 
  in 
  

   the 
  gizzard 
  and 
  the 
  inclosed 
  meat, 
  or 
  endosperm, 
  set 
  free 
  for 
  diges- 
  

   tion. 
  The 
  immunity 
  of 
  the 
  bird 
  from 
  poisoning 
  by 
  poison 
  sumac 
  

   and 
  poison 
  ivy, 
  which 
  also 
  it 
  eats, 
  is 
  interesting. 
  That 
  these 
  seeds 
  

   retain 
  their 
  virulence 
  after 
  being 
  eaten 
  was 
  shown 
  in 
  the 
  case 
  of 
  an 
  

   investigator 
  in 
  the 
  Biological 
  Survey 
  who 
  was 
  poisoned 
  while 
  exam- 
  

   ining 
  stomachs 
  of 
  crows 
  that 
  had 
  fed 
  on 
  poison-ivy 
  berries. 
  At 
  limes 
  

   the 
  ruffed 
  grouse 
  eats 
  many 
  of 
  these 
  berries, 
  as 
  proven 
  by 
  one 
  col- 
  

   lected 
  by 
  Prof. 
  S. 
  A. 
  Forbes, 
  at 
  Jackson, 
  111., 
  December 
  9, 
  1880, 
  

   which 
  had 
  eaten 
  280 
  of 
  them. 
  Where 
  grouse 
  are 
  numerous, 
  poison 
  

   sumac 
  is 
  usually 
  less 
  abundant 
  than 
  poison 
  ivy, 
  and 
  consequently 
  it 
  

   appears 
  less 
  frequently 
  in 
  stomach 
  examinations. 
  One 
  hundred 
  and 
  

   sixty 
  poison-ivy 
  berries 
  were 
  taken 
  from 
  the 
  crop 
  of 
  a 
  ruffed 
  grouse 
  

   shot 
  by 
  Dr. 
  A. 
  K. 
  Fisher 
  at 
  Lake 
  George, 
  N. 
  Y., 
  October 
  24, 
  1892. 
  

  

  Miscellaneous 
  fruits 
  amount 
  to 
  19.03 
  percent 
  of 
  the 
  annual 
  food. 
  

   The 
  two 
  favorite 
  kinds 
  are 
  the 
  partridge 
  berry 
  (Mitchella 
  re 
  fens) 
  

   and 
  the 
  thorn 
  apple 
  (various 
  species 
  of 
  Cratcegus), 
  both 
  of 
  which 
  

   were 
  eaten 
  by 
  40 
  of 
  the 
  208 
  grouse 
  examined. 
  At 
  least 
  two 
  species 
  

  

  