368 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [16:9— Dec. 1920 



one eye on the nest, and sure enough, before I had gone twenty feet 

 I saw the hen slip back on to the nest. 



Incubation starts about the first of May and lasts generally 

 from three to four weeks. At the end of this time the hen will 

 walk about followed by seven or eight little brown tufts of fuzz. 

 The mother rears them much the same as our domestic fowl 

 raises her brood. She teaches them to eat insects and worms and 

 at night hovers them under her wings. When in danger, a shrill 

 note from the hen will send them all scurrying to cover. They 

 will skillfully hide under any favorable object or squat and remain 

 motionless, harmonizing so well with the color of the ground and 

 dead leaves that it is impossible to distinguish them. When they 

 are half grown they roost on trees. 



The adults feed on berries, various nuts, acorns, wild grapes 

 and the like. Crickets, grasshoppers, larvae of caterpillars and 

 strawberries are considered dainties. When these fail, they eat 

 the foliage of many plants such as wintergreen, buttercups, part- 

 ridge berries. In winter they eat the buds of apple, birch and other 

 trees. The flesh is white and tender, but in late fall or winter 

 sometimes becomes very bitter and sometimes quite poisonous 

 to many persons on account of the bird feeding on leaves of alder. 



The birds mate in late April, but after the breeding season is 

 over the males keep apart, joining coveys as winter sets in. They 

 bear the winter well, due no doubt, to the heavy winter coat of 

 feathers carried down to the heel. The birds often dive headlong 

 into a snow drift towards night and remain warm and snug, flying 

 out in the morning. Unfortunately crusts are sometimes formed 

 over the drift during the night and the birds are imprisoned. 

 They often die of hunger unless a thaw sets in suddenly or they 

 get out in some other way. 



The ruffed grouse is one of America's greatest game birds. 

 Even most skilled sportsmen armed with the latest bird guns 

 and with the best trained dogs often come home with light bags 

 giving proof of their cunning and cleverness. Mr. G. O. Shields 

 says, "The ruffed grouse, by reason of its sudden burst from cover, 

 its bold, strong, swift flight, the rugged nature of its favorite 

 cover, its proud, erect carriage, its handsome garb and its wide 

 distribution is easily the king of American game birds, and has 

 therefore been chosen as the emblem of the league of American 

 sportsmen." 



