The Ruffed Grouse, the finest and most famous game-bird of the northern woods, was formerly very abundant. Its numbers have greatly decreased. Like the bobwhite, it responds to protection and may be raised under artificial conditions. It eats nearly sixty kinds of wild fruit; beechnuts, hazelnuts, chestnuts, acorns, and weed seeds form a large part of its diet. It eats some insects, the most important being beetles of various kinds.

Mr. Forbush says: “The female alone undertakes the task of incubation and the care of the young.... All the young grouse in a nest hatch at nearly the same instant; their feathers dry very rapidly, and they are soon ready to run about.... They run about, stealing noiselessly along among the dead leaves, under the foliage of ferns and shrubbery.... Meanwhile, the mother marches slowly in the rear, perhaps to guard them against surprise from any keen-scented animal that may follow on the trail. She seems to be always on the alert, and a single warning note from her will cause the young birds to flatten themselves on the ground or to hide under leaves, where they will remain motionless until they are trodden upon, rather than run the risk of betraying themselves by attempting to escape.

“During the fall, the Grouse keep together in small flocks. Sometimes a dozen birds may be found around some favorite grape vine or apple tree, but they are usually so harried and scattered by gunners that toward winter the old birds may sometimes be found alone.

“As winter approaches, this hardy bird puts on its ‘snowshoes,’ which consist of a fringe of horny processes or pectinations that grow out along each toe, and help to distribute the weight of the bird over a larger surface, and so allow it to walk over snows into which a bird not so provided would sink deeply. Its digestion must resemble that of the famous Ostrich, as broken twigs and dry leaves are ground up in its mill. It is a hard winter that will starve the Grouse. A pair spent many winter nights in a little cave in the rocky wall of an old quarry. Sumacs grew there, and many rank weeds. The birds lived well on sumac berries, weed seeds, and buds.

“Sometimes, but perhaps rarely, these birds are imprisoned under the snow by the icy crust which forms in cold weather following a rain, but usually they are vigorous enough to find a way out somewhere. The Grouse is perfectly at home beneath the snow; it will dive into it to escape a Hawk, and can move rapidly about beneath the surface and burst out again in rapid flight at some unexpected place.

“The Ruffed Grouse is a bird of the woodland, and though useful in the woods, it sometimes does some injury in the orchard by removing too many buds from a single tree. In winter and early spring, when other food is buried by the snow and hard to obtain, the Grouse lives largely on the buds and green twigs of trees; but as spring advances, insects form a considerable part of the food. The young feed very largely on insects, including many very destructive species.”[26]

CEDAR WAXWING