274 
GROUSE 
There is good reason for supposing that the Ruffed Grouse is polyg- 
amous, and that the male, if he drums in vain at one place, will fly 
to another retreat and there seek the society of some more compliant 
female. The. young Grouse can run about as soon as they are hatched, 
and can fly well when about a week old. Their mother is celebrated for 
the variety of expedients she puts in practice to save her brood from 
threatened danger, and their father has frequently been known to divide 
the charge with her. The young usually continue with their parents till 
the following spring, though it is rare at this time to see more than 
three or four surviving out of the original twelve or fourteen. 
The food of this Grouse is largely insects and berries during the 
summer; in the autumn it adds seeds to the list, and when the ground is 
covered with snow the staples are catkins, leaves, and buds. Its toes 
are provided during the winter with a curious fringe of strong, horny 
points which act as snowshoes. In the northern part of its range this 
bird commonly burrows into a snowdrift to pass the night during the 
season of intense cold; but in summer and in the warmer region of its 
range it roosts habitually among the thickets of evergreen. 
Ernest T. Seton. 
300a. B. u. togata (Linn.). Canada Ruffed Grouse. To be dis- 
tinguished from the preceding by the prevailing color of the upperparts, 
which are gray instead of rufous, and the more distinctly barred underparts, 
the bars on the breast and belly being nearly as well defined as those on the 
side; the tail is generally gray. 
Range. — Cen. Keewatin, s. Ungava, and.N. S., s. to Man., n. Mich., n. 
Vt., N. H., and Maine, and in the mountains of N. Y., w. Mass., and n. 
Conn.; birds indistinguishable from the eastern form occur from e. cen. 
B. C. s. to e. Ore. and cen. Idaho. 
30 1. Lagopus lagopus lagopus (Linn.). Willow Ptarmigan. Ad. 
d' breeding plumage . — Throat and chest, breast and sides rich rufous , chest 
and sides more or less barred with black; upperparts, including tail-coverts, 
black thickly but irregularly barred with ochraceous or rusty; tail 
fuscous narrowly tipped with white (worn off in some July specimens); 
primaries and secondaries white; tertials like back; belly largely white. Ad. 
d in fall (preliminary winter) plumage . — Similar to the preceding, but with 
a variable number of deep rufous feathers, vermiculated with black, on the 
breast, sides, and upperparts; more white in wings and belly. Ad. d in 
winter. — The preliminary winter plumage is a transition dress worn chiefly 
in September and October, when it is gradually replaced by the full winter 
plumage of snowy white with a fuscous, white-tipped tail. Ad. 9 breeding 
plumage. — Upperparts, tail and wings as in the male, but with less rufous, 
or none, on the head and neck; throat, breast and sides ochraceous broadly 
barred with black; center of belly paler with broken black bars. Ad. 9 in 
fall (preliminary winter) plumage . — Barred feathers of underparts largely 
replaced by rufous, more or less vermiculated feathers, which also appear 
in varying numbers on the upperparts. Resembles male in corresponding 
plumage except for the remaining feathers of the breeding plumage. Ad. 9 
in winter. — Similar to winter male. L., 15*00; W., 7*50; T., 4*40; B. from 
N., *42; depth of B. at N., *44. 
Remarks. — The seasonal plumages of the species are as confusing as they 
are interesting. It is not possible to treat them fully here, and the student 
who would pursue the matter further is referred to Dwight’s, paper in The 
Auk , 1900, 147- 163. Summer males and all fall plumage specimens may be 
