108 BULLETIN OF WISCONSIN NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. VOL. 1, NO. 1. 
Species of the Crucif erae. They also contained catkins, both the 
fertile and sterile kinds, of (lo) the yellow birch, Bctula lutea; 
and of ( 11 ) the paper birch B. papyrifara. Besides the above, 
were leaves of (12) the northern wild strawberry Fragaria Ca- 
nadensis Michx ; and of (13) round leaved hcpatica. H. triloba. 
There were also numerous very small buds of several unknown 
species, and seeds of eight species that could not be identified. 
Our leading- writers on American ornithology have described 
in a general way the food of the rufifed grouse. Major Bendire, 
however, in his "Life Histories of N. A. Birds," has treated the 
subject at greater length than has any of the others, and has given 
a considerable list of the substances constituting its diet. 
If in addition to the lists already given, we avail ourselves of 
those published by Major Bendire and others, as well as by the 
results of observations in the field, it is found that the food ma- 
terials made use of by the ruffed grouse may conveniently be class- 
ified as insects, seeds, fruit, nuts, leaves and buds. Of these, in- 
sects appear to be eaten only when they are most numerous and 
most easily obtained, and as with most birds, they also constitute 
the exclusive food of the very young ones. Grasshoppers, crick- 
ets, ants, caterpillars and larvae of many kinds, and l)eetles are 
devoured in consideral^le quantities. Edema alhifrons, a gregari- 
ous caterpillar injurious to oaks and maples, has been found in 
large numbers in their stomachs, and the Avriter was informed 
while in Parry Sound District, Ontario, in 1898, that in birds shot 
about midsummer, the crops are frequently distended with the 
tent-caterpillars that infest the wild cherry trees so common in 
the burnings of that localitv. 
The seeds that enter into the bill of fare of unibellns are those 
of the cultivated grains and grasses and of a number of wood- 
land plants. Members of the violet, lily, knotgrass (Polyganuni) , 
and cress families have already been mentioned. To these may 
be added the seeds of blood-root, Sanguinaria Canadensis ; touch- 
me-not, Inipatiens sp. : and species of the genera, Vicia and Lathy- 
rns. Seeds of several of the coniferous trees are also eaten. 
Berries are a staple and favorite article of diet with the ruffed 
grouse and probably there are few berry-producing plants whose 
fruit is distasteful to him. Berries and fruit of the following 
have been found in their stomachs : wild black cherry, Prunus ser- 
ofina; choke cherry, P. Virginiana; pin cherry, P. Pennsylvan- 
ica; staghorn sumac, Rhus Jiirta L. ; poison sumac, R. Vernix; 
poison ivy. R. radicans ; red osier, Cornus stolonifera : rough 
leaved dogwood, Cornus asperifolia ; red mulberry. Morns rubra; 
partridge berry, Mifchella repens; several species of SimUax, Rosa, 
