FOREST 
Vol. XCIV No. 10 

STREAM 
October - 1924 
Ruffed Grouse Traits 
Intimate Observations on the Habits of this Fascinating 
closed the woods in its fastness. 
A heavy blanket of loose, dry, 
sand-like snow, not moist enough to 
pack, had whitened the forest. The 
sun, rising late, seemed powerless to 
thaw the snow even on the south-facing 
hillsides. True, upon many days 
it shone brightly all day long, 
but it had no effect. The long, 
starlight nights brought a death- 
like stillness, and cold so intense 
that the trees snapped again and 
again—sharp and clear, like 
shots—from the action of the 
frost. Now and again the sky 
remained overcast for days, even 
weeks, at a time, the mercury 
rose slightly, the wind blew, and 
snow fell continuously for hours, 
at times merging the uncertain 
weather into a blizzard which 
piled high the downy stuff. 
Now, however, there were 
signs of the breakup and the 
wild creatures of the woods 
seemed restless, impatient for its com- 
ing. Thaws of more or less short dura- 
tion became frequent and sometimes 
warm, southerly winds blew gently. 
These forerunners of the spring were 
but passing signs of what was to come, 
for after a brief period of hesitancy, 
winter returned, as savage as before. 
Fi months past, winter had en- 
Rut this state of affairs was sufficient 
to awaken the mating instinct in a 
certain few inhabitants of the woods. 
The porcupines lumbered clumsily forth 
over vast areas far from their usual 
feeding grounds. The skunks, aroused 
from a state of partial inactivity, 
tracked the crust far and wide with 
clay from their dens. Once aroused, 
they ventured forth each night and, 
since the layer of fat which had served 
them so well all winter was running 
low, they hunted mice and now and then 
managed to secure an unwary hare, 
Page 579 
is ever trim and neat. 
unique black ruff upon his neck, his jaunty 
air and strut, his good natured sputtering, his 
bright eye—how well they unite to make a 
really lovable personality! 
Forest Dweller 
By WALLACE BYRON GRANGE 
whose pelage was 
brown. 
already turning 
O it was with all the animals; the 
woodchucks roamed everywhere, the 
bluejays and nuthatches called and the 
chickadees grew more musical. Noisy 
“What a beauty the ruffed grouse is! 
Brummel of the forest birds, a little lord who 
seems to enjoy himself and doesn’t mind wait- 
ing a few moments to strut a bit just to show 
others how trim he really is. 
fellow, the ruffed grouse, always watching 
and playing little tricks to escape detection. 
He lives a life of more than ordinary mystery.” 

crows, accompanied by prairie horned 
larks, tree-sparrows and juncoes, in- 
vaded the northland. The winter red- 
polls and pine grosbeaks advanced 
northward and the bird population con- 
stantly shifted. The arrival and de- 
parture of migrating birds grew more 
and more marked as the days went by 
and signs of spring became common. 
Then the noble bird, the ruffed grouse, 
sent forth his throbbing, rolling, drum- 
beats and all the world knew that spring 
had really come! 
GSfOUSk drum often upon such 
early spring days, and continue so 
until in late April the woods resound 
everywhere with the beats. The drum- 
ming of the ruffed grouse is one of the 
most interesting forest sounds, yet few 
have taken the time and patience neces- 
sary to observe the performance. There 
is no finer sport than to stalk a drum- 
He is the Beau 
He is an alert 
mer, crawl and wriggle up close to him 
and watch him ply his magic. 
S each spring approaches I look 
eagerly forward to the drumming 
days of the grouse. It takes skill, and 
patience and all the resources of a 
woodsman to approach unno- 
ticed. Many are the failures. In- 
deed you and the birds are here 
He on equal basis, or perhaps the 
His beautiful tail, the 
grouse has slightly the advan- 
tage. At any rate he who can 
get close enough to clearly ob- 
serve the magician occupies a 
position to be coveted. 
On a certain April day i 
stalked a drummer to better 
avail than_ usual. Several 
grouse were drumming along a 
little wet weather creek. I at- 
tempted to sneak up on one 
vigilant grouse downstream, but 
he was more than my match 
and I proceeded upstream to- 
ward an old drumming log that 
had been used for many years. I was 
favored this time, for an old maple tree 
top had fallen across the end of the log, 
and still retaining its dead leaves, 
formed a good screen. 
T HE drumming log, with the top be- 
tween, lay just across the water, 
the butt of the top extending to the 
edge of the stream. I had little diffi- 
culty in arriving to the edge of the 
water, on the wrong side of the creek, 
but crossing was another matter. Of 
course, when one stalks a drummer he 
must not move except during the few 
seconds that the drumming is going on; 
otherwise he is sure to be discovered. 
(I have timed many grouse and find 
that the average length of drumming 
is from 10 to 11 seconds. This seems 
a surprisingly short time for so promi- 
nent a woods-sound, but I have found 
it to be correct). I waited at the edge 
Contents Copyrighted by Forest and Stream Pub. Co. 
