FOREST AND STREAM. 






The Ruffed Grouse Scarcity. 
Littte Faris, N. Y., Nov. 25.—Editor 
and Stream: Because the ruffed grouse is “every- 
man’s game,” its comings and goings excite 
more interest than almost any other kind of bird 
—possibly the migration of mallard ducks is 
not so closely remarked. Its scarcity this year 
along the edges of the Adirondacks has been 
commented upon by every hunter with whom I 
have talked. The contrast with last year is very 
sharp and dismaying. 
A year ago the partridges had a good season. 
Large numbers of the eggs hatched, and a large 
proportion of the young reached maturity, as 
the number of birds in the woods showed when 
the hunting season came around. To take one 
little chopping for an example, the Red Camp 
opening on Jock’s Lake outlet in the valley of 
the West Canada is a good illustration. Here 
the fishermen in the summer and the deer hunt- 
ers in the fall found the birds in literally count- 
less numbers. Brood birds flared out at people 
who walked a few rods from the camp, sat down 
on a log and waited. In an hour or two they 
were sure to get neck-shots with their rifles at 
several birds. 
I passed up the long trail by the Red Camp 
twice and saw a dozen or so in that vicinity. 
All the hunters remarked on their numbers, and 
probably there were more there than ever be- 
fore. 
This fall one deer hunter who watches birds 
closely said that he saw just two partridges in 
or near Red Camp clearing. These birds were 
wild and wary. The same slump from bounti- 
fulness to scarcity was noticed all along the 
edge of the big woods. The local correspond- 
ents of weekly papers, writing from the clearing 
hamlets, nearly all mentioned the failure of 
hunters to find the birds. Good luck was not 
reported so much as once, so far as I observed, 
though in other vears hunters did kill and the 
luck was reported. 
In the twenty years past, there have been sev- 
eral lean partridge years on the edge of the 
Adirondacks. The causes of these lean years in 
the vicinity around Northwood were several, if 
my recollection is not at fault. I cannot give 
the exact years, but certain of them are re- 
membered because of the incidents of forest life. 
This year’s scarcity is easily placed upon the 
cause. The spring was exceedingly backward— 
so much so that farmers had the utmost diffi- 
culty in getting in their early crops—snow 
covered the ground on the morning of May 
27. That one storm would account for a great 
number of tragedies in bird land; in fact, in the 
woods where the little migrants gathered, dead 
birds were found on the ground where they had 
fallen frozen to death. Of course, this storm 
nipped all the partridge eggs laid at that date, 
and doubtless prevented the birds from going 
about their customary nesting business. 
Most of the birds in the woods this fall were 
old birds—birds that had survived the wintry 
stress. Comparatively few partridges do sur- 
vive an Adirondack winter as a rule. Last 
winter, I found at least three places within a 
mile of Northwood where birds had been killed 
by predatory animals. One was killed by an 
ermine, one by either an owl or hawk, and one 
perhaps by a fox. A good season for the par- 
tridges means just as good a season for young 
foxes, Owls and ermines. 
The animals caught by trappers last winter 
were nearly all fat—-foxes, weasels and owls had 
an unusual amount of fat on their bones. That 
is a very good indication that birds and small 
animals were having a hard winter. When 
spring came there were only a few partridges 
left ; in fact, the birds grew noticeably fewer every 
month in the winter—this without any sleet and 
crust-making storms which trap the birds under 
Forest 

the snow where they hide to seek warmth. And 
by the way, diving into the snow is no pleasure 
for the partridges. It is a choice of evils. 
Every winter-killed partridge I ever saw had 
its shoulders skinned by its impact with the 
snow when it dived into it out of reach of the 
bitter cold. Some birds must kill themselves 
when they strike crust under the loose snow. 
One sometimes finds the birds dead when the 
snow melts in the spring, 
In spite of last year's abundance, probably 
there were no more birds than usual to under- 
take the rearing of birds this summer, owing to 
the late spring. But there were many more 
foxes, as many mink, more fishers (pekans), 
more Owls and similar birds. The few broods 
of partridges that broke their shells had a lean 
and hungry band of enemies watching for them, 
Predatory animals are naturally hardier in the 
presence of bad weather than the partridges and 
other seed and grass eaters. There were more 
of these fur-bearers this summer than usual. 
Not only did partridges suffer, but rabbits as 
well. The northern hare (Adirondack “rabbit’’) 
suffers with partridges from predatory animals. 
Hunters tell me of hearing rabbits cry out when 
struck by owls. One rabbit was lifted from 
ahead of a dog by some bird, according to one 
of my friends; in fact, when foxes, fishers, 
martens, and owls are plenty, a poor rabbit and 
partridge season is inevitable. Last winter there 
were literally hundreds of foxes and dozens of 
fishers in the forest depths. Even without a bad 
spring partridges would have been less plenti- 
ful by far than last fall. 
Bad springs accounted for several of the poor 
seasons that I remember. There were other 
causes for bad seasons, however. Thus one dry 
spring (1903), the Adirondacks were swept by 
scores of forest fires. These fires ran through 
briar patches, second growths and in old chop- 
pings. They ran, that is, over the spring and 
summer nesting and feeding grounds of ruffed 
grouse and rabbits. Around Northwood the 
damage to forests could not be ranked very high. 
There was little good timber to burn. But there 
was such a holocaust in the land of small life 
as one hopes never to see again. Everything 
from snakes and insects to deer perished in the 
waves of flames. Some localities had their par- 
tridges literally exterminated because they had 
no place to flee to. Yet all the lost hold of the 
birds was made up so that last year in these 
same localities birds were exceedingly numerous. 
How deadly hunters may become to birds was 
shown around Northwood during two or three 
years. Will Light, an old Bisby guide and an 
able hunter, “got the bird fever.” He was run- 
ning a little hotel, and he found that bird shoot- 
ers would come to him if they could be assured 
of good sport. A Utica sportsman gave him a 
bird dog pup, and Light gave the dog an educa- 
tion in the second growth. It was an unusually 
bright dog, and birds were plenty. Light had a 
houseful of hunters for three falls’ hunting. 
When the hunting began, the woods were 
“alive with birds.” The birds were wild for men 
who tried to kick them out of the brush, or 
wanted to shoot them with rifles, for they were 
much hunted that way. But dogs had almost 
never been used. Light’s visitors had the time 
of their lives. They killed several hundred birds 
each fall. The result was genuine “hunter 
scarcity” of birds. One winter Light’s dog got 
a poisoned fox bait and died. Light went into 
the log jobbing and contract hauling business, 
and forthwith the birds began to grow numer- 
ous. 
There was one other cause for few birds 
which is worth telling about. There were a 
number of years at Northwood when no one 
trapped or hunted foxes. Skunks, foxes, mink, 
ermines and cats became numerous in that im- 
mediate vicinity. Furs were away down—$2 for 

minks, 40 cents for skunks, $1.25 for foxes a 
10 cents for cat skins. The turn came when i 
prices ran up to double or more than th 
former prices. Two men began to trap a 
hunt for a business. They had two good fo 
hounds, a hundred or more traps and excelle 
shotguns. These two men never told how mu 
fur they caught, but it must have been a gre 
deal. I know that by the time snow came o} 
fall, they had more than thirty dozens } 
ermines and minks, scores of muskrats, doze} 
of skunks, a ’coon or two, and about all t} 
house cats in a radius of four miles. Th} 
killed a good many rabbits and partridges, tc, 
but not so many as the animals they caug| 
would have killed. When snow came they beg) 
to hunt foxes systematically and track dovh 
skunks and mink. Day after day they went ct 
on snowshoes with their dogs, and they kill] 
nobody knows how many foxes. It was the fit 
time in years that foxes had been pursued } 
relentlessly. However far a fox went they fi} 
lowed it till it holed, and headed it off at a fen} 
corner or pasture gap. Once a month or thet} 
abouts they sold or shipped their catch. } 
three years, though furs were higher than evi, 
it no longer paid to hunt and trap in ttt 
vicinity. The hunters went into other bu} 
ness. So well were the predatory animé 
cleaned out that partridges and rabbits car} 
down into the alder beds and flocked in eve} 
woodlot—till Light got his bird dog, when th 
scattered again. 
It is worth mentioning that a winter whif 
has two or three heavy crusts is especially b 
for partridges. When a winter rain comes c 
the partridges dive into the snow immediate 
knowing that frozen feathers means death. 
the rain lasts only a little while, making a th 
scale of crust on the snow, it does not matt 
save for the weakest of the birds. But let t 
rain continue to fall for several hours, or for 
day or two, thoroughly wetting the snow, tl 
birds are caked in. As these rains are follow 
by hard freezes, the snow becomes a mass 
crust from which birds cannot escape. I dou 
if one bird in ten escapes the January tha 
It seems to me that the pointer on nature 
balance swings from extreme to extreme som 
times, as during the past twelve months wi 
partridges, with disconcerting suddenness, a1 
sometimes with disheartening resistlessness, 
during the past twenty years with ducks. ( 
course, the narrowing of the covert areas a1 
the increase in the number of gun users ali} 
contributes to lessen the possible number 
heads of game. 
In the Adirondacks there has been a great: 
advance in favor of game law observance ar 
enforcement during the past two years than 
the previous ten years. There would be coi 
siderably greater advancement, perhaps, if eve 
violator were taken before a court instead 
permitting law breakers sometimes to settle wiif 
wardens without publicity. The worst scare 
man in the State was a leading politician who 
the Fulton Chain guides lugged down to cou 
for killing deer out of season. It is understoc 
that this politician tries to observe the gan} 
laws now, while sundry preserve occupiers di 
like to such an extent the notoriety brought upc 
them by their misdemeanors that they, too, aj 
stopping jacking, hounding and summer killirl 
of deer. Eliminate pull from the enforcement «# 
the game and forest laws of a State, and in 
provement begins instantly. Conditions wet 
never before so good as at present in the Adiror 
dacks, although of course there are feature 
which are discreditable to sundry reckless me 
So far as ruffed grouse in the Adirondack 
are concerned I do not think conditions a1 
likely to remain bad for any great length c 
time. The high price of fur will go far to sav 
them from near extermination. If Mr. Whisl 
