THE OREGON SPORTS MA N 



the cock is likely to proceed forthwith to peck a mated hen to 

 death. This fact has been noted by others who have had ruffed 

 grouse in confinement, and I have had a hen completely scalped 

 within a few minutes of mating. 



After mating the hen will lay her clutch. The hens I had 

 proved to be good sitters. However, as the warm days of June 

 come on, she is likely to spend a good deal of time off the eggs. 

 The eggs should not be interfered with on this account, but left 

 entirely undisturbed. 



Disease prevention is more difficult in case of the ruffed 

 grouse than with the bobwhite. At any rate, this has been the 

 case in my own experiments. Common fowls carry, in many 

 parts of the country, internal parasites (probably coccidia pro- 

 tozoa) which are likely to prove fatal to native American species. 

 The germs are the same that cause black-head in turkeys, and 

 probably this fact alone is sufficient explanation why our native 

 grouse have not long since been domesticated. If it is possible 

 to rear turkeys in the region with chickens, these germs are 

 probably not present in the chickens. If they are present, it will 

 be necessary to rear the chicks, from the time they pip the shell, 

 in clean incubators and brooders, and off ground contaminated 

 by fowls. 



There is one other complication which should be carefully 

 studied throughout Oregon. On the ruffed grouse is often found 

 a ''flying tick," or parasitic fly, which may be the means of 

 inoculating the germs into the grouse by its bite. These ticks 

 are quick fliers, leave a bird the moment it is shot, but can 

 sometimes be caught on or in the feathers as soon as the bird 

 falls. A good way to secure specimens would be to throw an in- 

 sect net over a shot bird as quickly as possible. The idea has 

 been advanced by some who have studied the problem in the 

 East that these ticks are responsible for the death of a great 

 many grouse in the woods. The writer sent a speciment to Pro- 

 fessor Novy, of Ann Arbor, and he immediately reported that 

 we probably had in this insect the carrier of the germs of black- 

 head to the grouse. If this is true, these ticks are probably 



Pagre eight 



