m m B 11 :::::» JHENRyMEyER ^jjjj555Tniiw«,-?j^ '^ '«\ «^fHDRAV 9 CD :a c u c Q D O o H u Q -J < Q OQ O u D Q Q O o X H Feathered Game of the Northeast By WALTER H. RICH WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY THE AUTHOR NEW YORK THOMAS Y. CROWELL & CO. PUBLISHERS Copyright, 1907, By Thomas Y. Crowell & Co. Published September, 1907. TO MY WIFE, MOST PATIENT OF READERS AND GENTLEST OF CRITICS THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED. SK 313 ml PREFACE. The writer is aware that there are many ex- cellent bird books, but while most of these are of wider scope, either covering the broad field of general ornithology or dealing with the en- tire bird life of a large area of country, there are few which treat solely of the groups of spe- cial interest to sportsmen, — especially to the sportsmen of New England. This work is de- voted to the so-called ''game birds," and while the author's intent has been to write of them to the man whose nature study has been con- ducted in the open and mostly over a gunbarrel, it is his hope that all lovers of the birds and the out-of-doors, and even the scientific ornitholo- gist as well, may find his page of interest and profit. Treating the subject from the standpoint of fair sportsmanship, the writer has endeavored to discountenance the reckless and needless slaughter by those whose ambition it is to make a record killing, and he asks of the thoughtful vi PREFACE sportsman, who beats the covert in search of health and sport, and of the working naturalist, that they meet on this common ground and work loyally together in an effort to save our wild life from the extermination which threatens. The protection of our wild creatures, particularly of our game birds, seems to be the most im- portant question in the sportsman's outlook upon the future — a question calling for much foresight and no little self-denial in its proper solution. The present generation is feeling the results of that selfishness of the past, so well summed up in its two stock arguments: "0, well, if I don't kill them someone else will, and the game will last my time, anyhow!" Will it, you who listen to our old men's tales of shooting days in the not-so-long-ago? Will it, you who have gunned the marsh? Where are the plover flocks which once swept across its wide expanse? Will it, market hunter and slayer of the wild pigeon? Will it, chicken hun- ter, you who left your dead to rot in August's sun? Will it, hide hunter of the buffalo days? If the reader can look with indifference upon the works of these, let him permit things to take their ruinous course, — let him do nothing to re- PREFACE vii strict any man in killing when, where, or how he will. But if he wishes to save our weaker brethren of the wilderness, that they may fur- nish to those who come after us the joys they afford to-day, he will lend his best effort, when someone with the interests of our game supply at heart tries to put off the opening day of a shooting season until the birds have become full- fledged, or he will strengthen the hands of those who endeavor to stop spring shooting, or to close our markets to the sale of game. These things I say to the great brotherhood of sports- men. To the individual gunner this admonition may not come amiss: do not, even though with- in your legal right, continue to kill after a fair bag has been made. It would be a wise plan for each and all of us who carry a gun to paste in our shooting hats cards bearing the motto : '^ Don't forget to leave enough for seed." And now, reader, this book is committed to you in the hope that you may find herein some- thing to remind you pleasantly of your own exploits on wooded hillside, or 'mid rustling reeds, or on sunlit seas, and with the wish that viii PREFACE you may forgive its many short-comings, '*0f which," as honest Izaak says, *'if thou be a severe, sour-complexioned man, then I here dis- allow thee to be a competent judge." Walter H. Rich. Falmouth, Maine, June first, 1907. TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE Spruce Grouse 1 Heath Hen 9 Ruffed Grouse 16 Willow Grouse 51 Bob White 57 Beetlehead Plover 70 Golden Plover 78 KiLDEER Plover 83 Semipalmated Plover 85 Piping Plover 88 Belted Piping Plover 89 Wilson's Plover 90 American Oyster Catcher 91 Turnstone 94 AvocET 97 Stilt 99 Red Phalarope 101 Northern Phalarope 102 Wilson's Phalarope 105 American Woodcock 108 Wilson's Snipe 130 Dowitcher 145 ix X TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE Stilt Sandpiper 149 Baird's Sandpiper 151 The "Peeps" 153 Grassbird 159 Purple Sandpiper 163 Red-backed Sandpiper 166 Sanderling 168 EoBiN Snipe 170 Great Marbled Godwit 172 Hudsonian Godwit 174 Willet 176 Winter Yellow-legs 177 Summer Yellow-legs 186 Solitary Sandpiper 188 Spotted Sandpiper 193 Rupp 199 Upland Plover 201 BUPP-BREASTED SaNDPIPER 214 Sickle-billed Curlew 215 Hudsonian Curlew 218 Esquimaux Curlew 220 King Rail 223 Clapper Rail 227 Virginia Rail 229 SoRA Rail 231 Yellow Rail 237 Black Rail 239 TABLE OF CONTENTS xi PAGE European Corn Crake 240 Purple Gallinule 241 Florida Gallinule 242 Coot 245 Greater Snow Goose 248 White-fronted Goose 251 Canada Goose 252 HuTCHiNs' Goose 269 Common Brant 270 Mallard Duck 274 Black Duck 279 Gadwall 291 Widgeon 295 Green-winged Teal 300 Blue-winged Teal 304 Shoveler 308 Pintail 312 Wood Duck 318 Red-head 326 Canvasback 331 Greater Bluebill 334 Lesser Bluebill 337 Ring-necked Duck 340 Whistler 341 Rocky Mountain Garrot 351 Bufflehead 354 Oldsquaw 357 xii TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE Harlequin 365 Labrador Duck 368 American Eider 371 King Eider 387 American Scoter 390 White- winged Coot 400 Patch-head Coot 403 American Merganser 404 Red-breasted Merganser 408 Hooded Merganser 415 Ruddy Duck 418 Index 425 cJ3 CD CD (^ <__ C3 CO LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Wood Duck Colored Frontispiece Outline Drawing Showing Ar- rangement OF Plumage . . Opposite page Spruce Grouse " " 5 Heath Hen " ** 13 Ruffed Grouse *' " 25 * ' Trembling with suppressed JOY AND eagerness, HE TURNS, ' ' ETC " "35 Ruffed Grouse Shooting . . ** *' 45 Willow Grouse ** ** 53 Bob White " "63 Beetlehead Plover .... ** '* 73 Golden Plover ** ** 81 Kildeer Plover " ** 84 Sempalmated Plover — Piping Plover " "87 Wilson's Plover ..... " "91 Oyster Catcher " " 93 Turnstone " "95 AvocET " "98 Stilt ** ** 100 Northern Phalarope — Wilson 's Phalarope — Red Phalarope . " " 105 American Woodcock .... " " 113 xiii xiv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS "He Sees his Dog, one Foot Raised, etc Snipe A Good Snipe Country . Brownback Stilt Sandpiper and Baird's Sandpiper Semipalmated, Least and White- rumped Sandpipers .... Grassbird Purple Sandpiper and Red- backed Sandpiper .... Sanderling Robin Snipe Marbled Godwit HuDSONiAN Godwit .... Willet Winter Yellow-legs Summer Yellow-legs Solitary Sandpiper .... Spotted Sandpiper .... Ruff Upland Plover Buff-breasted Sandpiper Sickle-billed Curlew HuDsoNiAN Curlew — Esquimaux Curlew King Rail Opposite page 121 135 141 147 151 155 161 165 169 171 173 175 177 183 187 191 195 199 207 214 217 220 224 LIST OF ILLUSTEATIONS XV Clapper Rail Opposite page ! 227 ViRGiNLv Rail E i 229 SoRA Rail 233 Yellow Rail and Black Rail . 237 Corn Crake C 239 Purple Gallinule i 241 Florida Gallinule .... 243 Mud Hen. Coot .... i C 247 Snow Goose I c 249 White-fronted Goose i i 251 Canada Goose a 261 Brant [( 270 Mallard Duck E( 274 Black Duck 279 Gadwall i( 291 Widgeon 295 Green-winged Teal .... 301 Blue-winged Teal .... 305 Shoveler 309 Pintail 315 Redhead 327 Canvasback 331 Greater Bluebill .... 334 Lesser Bluebill 337 Ring-necked Duck .... 340 Whistler C (< 343 A Winter Morning with the Whistlers Oppc mte pa ,Qe 347 XVI LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Barrow's Golden-eye ... " < < 351 BUFFLEHEAD ** [ ( 354 OlDSQUAW — SPRING PLUMAGE . ** 357 OlDSQUAW WINTER PLUMAGE . ** * 361 Harlequin Duck *' 365 Labrador Duck *' ( 368 American Eider *' 375 Sea Duck Shooting over decoys ** 381 King Eider ** . * 387 Butter-billed Coot .... ** * 393 White- winged Coot .... " ' 400 Patch-head Coot " ' 403 American Merganser ... ** 407 Red-breasted Merganser . . ** ' 411 Hooded Merganser .... ** ' 415 EuDDY Duck ** * 421 y FEATHERED GAME OF THE NORTHEAST THE SPRUCE GROUSE. (Canachites canadensis.) The Spruce Grouse, Canada Grouse, Swamp Partridge, or Black Grouse, — for by all these titles this bird is known, — is a dweller on our North American continent from Newfoundland to the Columbia river, thence northward into Alaska, and from the northern portions of the United States to the limits of the spruce forests of the sub- Arctic lands, thus leaving only north- western Montana, Oregon, Washington, and northward along the coast through British Co- lumbia for its cousin, Franklin's Grouse. Little they care for cold or snow. They seem to be resident at all points of their habitat. The range of the Spruce Grouse extends much far- ther into the north than that of the ruffed grouse. It is somewhat smaller than this aristo- cratic relative, and in its shape is nearer to the 1 2 FEATHERED GAME quails and the ptarmigans than to the other grouse. Their homes are in the boggy portions of the woods — swampy ground carpeted in summer with moss and trailing vines, deep-shaded with spruce and hemlock — ^where quaking bogs and mire over which they pass with light and nimble steps make the footing of the pursuer treacher- ous in the extreme — almost impassable haunts at any other than the winter season. In the summer months they feed upon the insects, wild fruits and berries of the woods and at this season their flesh can scarcely be distinguished from that of the ruffed grouse in flavor. In- deed, upon examination of the barrels of "birch partridges" which were annually destroyed in the Maine woods by illegal snaring, (now hap- pily almost a thing of the past because our mar- kets are closed to the sale of game), many Spruce Grouse were to be found, having been passed off upon the dealer as ruffed grouse, and as this better bird were they sold to inexperi- enced buyers. But with the coming of the snow the days of plenty have passed and there is lit- tle left for them but the leaves and buds of the various evergreens which make the forests of SPRUCE GROUSE 3 the northern swamps. At this time their flesh becomes very dark and to most palates is un- pleasantly bitter. It is but justice to say, how- ever, that under like conditions the flesh of the ruffed grouse is little better. There are those who claim to prefer this flavor — this strong re- minder of the spruce tops. If, then, your friends should speak ill of the table qualities of either of these fowls, be sure that they have been experimenting with some winter bird whose unchanging and long-continued fare of spruce buds has not been the "sweet savour" best suiting your epicure's taste. Let us con- fine ourselves, then, to the legitimate hunting season and we shall have no such bitter gastro- nomical disappointments. I have seen men eat Spruce Grouse twice a day for a week in Octo- ber with relish unabated at the end of the time, nor did they think themselves much abused thereby. As is the habit of the family their nests are built upon the ground ; a tiny hollow lined with dry leaves and moss, protected from the weather and shielded from view by the over- hanging boughs of spruce or fir tree. They lay from ten to eighteen eggs, — commonly nearer 4 FEATHERED GAME the lesser number, — rather pointed at the smaller end, of a dull, creamy-buff color, and splashed and freckled with brown or chestnut spots. As a rule the nesting season in Maine is about the first of April, but grows later as we go farther north. As has been before stated, the appearance of this bird is like the quail rather than the grouse, and in its gait and movements it is most graceful and attractive. The prevailing color is a dusky bluish gray, with minute barrings and mottlings of black. The breast is black with lines of white feathers across it low down, and other white feathers in greater numbers ap- pearing on the flanks and under the tail. On the throat a black patch bordered by a white band extending downward from each eye and meeting under the throat. An area of naked skin, bright vermilion, above each eye. Tail black, each feather terminated by a spot of deep orange yellow. Feet feathered to the toes. Length sixteen to seventeen inches ; thus the male. The female is more like the ruffed grouse in appearance, the general tone of coloring being a rufous brown with crossbars and mottlings of 1?^^*^^^^, - ""^A.^' 'f\ PJ (/) o Qi O U D Qi a. en •*^-, i-^> SPRUCE GROUSE 5 dusky brown and black, though there are some traces of the male bird's color plan also, such as the white feathering on the flanks and below, but there should be no difficulty in distinguish- ing one from the other at a glance, since, aside from its smaller size, the Spruce Partridge lacks the "Elizabethan ruff" on the neck, has no crest and is feathered to the toes. In southern New England this bird is prob- ably now never taken, though in the old days it was seen occasionally. In Maine the Spruce Grouse is very rare in the southern parts, be- ing occasionally found in the neighborhood of Umbagog lake in Oxford county, growing more common as we approach the northern lumber regions and on the wooded slopes of the moun- tains, but still nowhere in the State equally numerous with the ruffed grouse. They be- come more abundant as we go farther north. This bird is vastly inferior to the ruffed grouse in the qualities for which the latter is so highly prized by sportsmen, being neither so crafty, strong and fleet of wing, nor, in a word, so "game." The northern lumbermen speak slightingly of its intellect, giving it the complimentary title 6 FEATHERED GAME of ''fool hen," because, being unacquainted witli the kindly ways of man in dealing with his weaker brethren, when an intruder comes into its seldom-troubled domains it will only fly up into the nearest tree to sit craning its neck and staring while the clumsiest bungler that ever pulled trigger may shoot it as it perches, — even staying upon its roost to scold and strut with its tail cocked over its back if the marks- man's first trial should be unsuccessful. Thus does it meet the usual fate of trustful inno- cence. It is well known that in distant regions where little hunted the ruffed grouse will some- times do the same, though I think one would meet with small success in an attempt to take the ''birch partridge" with a slipnoose on the end of a stick, as may often be done with these birds. When the Spruce Partridge has become better acquainted with the gunners, and later generations of hunted grouse have dodged shot among the tree tops until a wholesome fear of man has been implanted in their breasts, they will not fail to meet the demands of the most exacting sportsman or they are no true grouse, A friend tells me of a scene he came upon in Flagstaff, ' ' in the Dead River country, ' ' where a SPRUCE GROUSE 7 little schoolliouse had been crowded up against the wall of the woods. A knot of squealing youngsters, wild with excitement, were danc- ing around two of the older boys who, armed with a Fourth of July cannon made of a .45 calibre shell wired upon a block of wood, were trying to down a cock spruce grouse which was scolding and strutting on a bough about ten feet from the ground. Never did a gun crew work more earnestly. Powder, turned into the arm with trembling hands, was wadded with long moss from the nearest tree — the projectile the first pebble that would fit its muzzle. Then one gunner gripped the block tightly and aimed while the other scratched a match and applied it to the touchhole. Bang! Wild screeches and uproar! But Mr. Grouse merely gave his tail another flirt and continued to strut. Now, any boy present could have ''fixed him" at the first attempt with a rock, but no, — they were sports- men raised in a sportsman's country and they were going to shoot him or lose him like gentle- men and thus be true to Dead River traditions. So the war went on until a lucky shot tumbled the bird from his perch minus half his head. Because of the distance of their haunts from 8 FEATHERED GAME civilization tliese, with the ptarmigans, will probably be the last of our grouse to be exter- minated. At present their only disturber is the hunter of big game who may want a showy ''bird piece" for his dining room. It is a very pretty fowl for such a purpose, too, but the sportsman rarely kills more than the pair needed, for at that season their table qualities are not such as to induce him to put in the last day of his stay in camp in shooting the heads off Spruce Grouse to supply a toothsome mor- sel for friends at home, as he generally does with the ruffed grouse. During a snowstorm the Spruce Grouse usu- ally flies up into the densest clump of spruce or fir trees in the neighborhood, and under their thick, arching branches, snow-laden and bend- ing, he finds shelter from the weather and food in abundance. He may not leave the tree for several days if undisturbed and the storm con- tinues. The question of temperature troubles him little, and with his wants all provided for, the Spruce Grouse is more independent in his mode of life than any of his feathered neighbors, for when other birds are scurrying about for something to eat and perhaps going hungry, THE HEATH HEN 9 this gentleman finds plenty of food in his shel- ter, and sits in comfort, *'at ease in his own inn." The Franklin's Grouse, before mentioned, is very near to this typical bird, the main differ- ence being the lack of the terminal spots of orange in the tail of the male; in his case the tail is either plain black or narrowly tipped with white, and the tips of the upper tail cov- erts in both male and female are white. The lady also has whitish instead of orange tips to the tail feathers. If otherwise different there is rather less of white in the rest of the plumage of this than in the common species. In choice of food, habits and mode of life the two species are in perfect accord. THE HEATH HEN (Tympanuchus cupido.) It is probable that in former times the Prairie Chicken flourished in many places suitable for its occupancy from the Atlantic to its present home, but now the broken and scat- tered remnants of those once thriving communi- ties are to be found only in very small num- 10 FEATHERED GAME bers and in a few widely separated localities. In most of these places their value is recognized and by rigid protection it is hoped to save this interesting eastern race from extinction. Unfortunately, from various causes, their in- crease (if increase there be) is very slow, and it will be long before their numbers will war- rant anything less than complete protection. I greatly fear that this eastern race is doomed. Eastward of the present range of the Prairie Chicken probably the only colony remaining is that of Martha's Vineyard, though possibly a few may be left on the eastern end of Long Island. In both places they are rigidly pro- tected by law, but there seems to be a complete understanding among the natives dwelling near the breeding grounds which permits any one of them to gather Heath Hens in perfect security, and makes the whole community a nest of spies upon the stranger who may covet a specimen. The market price of the Heath Hen's skin at the dealer's shop runs from twenty-five to forty dollars, though of course, no dealer dares quote the same in his published lists. The remunera- tion to the gunner as his portion of the spoil is THE HEATH HEN 11 usually fixed at five dollars, whicli leaves a fair margin of profit for the merchant. In some of the places where the eastern race once lived birds from the prairies have been re- leased, but little has been said concerning them and the result of the experiment is not gener- ally known. Probably they have not increased to the extent of becoming a pest to the farmers on whose lands they dwell ! By no means the equal of the ruffed grouse (to the writer's thinking the standard of game bird excellence) in game qualities either of brain or wing power, still the Chicken is a fine bird and those sportsmen who are privileged to shoot them are to be envied for many a pleasant outing. We of New England have our compen- sation, however, and should never complain while wise laws and their growing respect among our people combine to keep up our stock of ruffed grouse. For the most part the Prairie Hen of the west is a dweller in the open rolling plains, tak- ing to the timber only on rare occasions for shel- ter from the weather or when much harassed. The habits of the eastern species are in the 12 FEATHERED GAME main those of the western representative, with such variations as may result from its differ- ent surroundings, such as a greater fondness for brushy covers than has its brother of the prairies. For safety's sake, and no doubt see- ing the advantages which such a country af- fords, it has become almost as much of a woods bird as the ruffed grouse. It is probable that the bird of the eastern section was always more of a forest dweller than a citizen of the open. The courting habits of the Heath Hen are probably the same as those of the western race, the males performing the same booming sere- nade at sunrise, and it is natural to suppose that they dance and fight as enthusiastically in the mating season as is the custom of the typ- ical bird of the plains. The western bird has been more fortunate than our own. With their enormous wheat fields to fatten upon the Chickens might have thriven wonderfully, and had it not been for the market shooter and the slaughterer for count they might have outlasted any game bird of the continent; but ever the army of sportsmen gains new recruits, and each year sees a greater drain upon a diminishing supply. Newer m X X < X. THE HEATH HEN 13 grounds must be sought out to make a good showing, and so each year the Chickens are thinned out in their old haunts or driven far- ther west. Unless existing game laws are re- spected and enforced even more strictly than heretofore the day is not far distant when these fowl will be as rare in the west as to-day in their former eastern homes. A feeder on grains and seeds, berries and various insects, its flesh is tender and of good flavor during its happier sea- son though growing a trifle strong during the winter months. It is considered a prime table delicacy and thousands are killed for the mar- ket each year, which fact leaves a fine chance for game law improvement. At the beginning of the shooting season the Chickens lie very close, often running along just in front of the dogs with heads showing above the short grass, clucking nervously and springing into the air by twos and threes with steady and only moderately speedy flight, so that a quick shot may use several cartridges be- fore all are gone. It often happens that some old male remains to rise unexpectedly when all the covey is thought to have gone, and catch- ing the tyro with empty or open gun, as often 14 FEATHERED GAME as not escapes. At the season's opening they are easy marks and readily killed, but when later they ''pack" for the winter they are strong fliers and wary enough, giving only the longest of shots. The shooting at this season really calls for some degree of skill. Our bird nests in June or even in the first half of July, which seems late for this latitude, making its nest on the ground in a brushy shel- ter, and laying from six to twelve eggs, usually nearer the smaller number. The eggs are of a greenish gray color. In its markings the Heath Hen does not dif- fer materially from the ordinary form of Prairie Chicken though of slightly darker col- oring. The description of one will pass for the other and is as follows: the Pinnated Grouse, as this bird is named in the books, (so called from the neck-tufts, like small wings, the dis- tinguishing mark of the genus) varies in length from sixteen to eighteen inches. Upper parts dull pale yellow or whitish, regularly barred across the body and wings with dark brown and dusky ; throat pale yellow with a few scattering speckles of dusky color. Under parts marked much like the upper, but the barrings more THE HEATH HEN 15 regular, though less distinct and on a paler ground. Tail short, rounded, and carried more erectly than is the usual manner with the grouse, dusk}^ in color, the feathers crossed by uncertain barrings of lighter shade. Crissum white. On each side of the neck are the long, narrow tufts of feathers, the type character, (in the western bird numbering ten or more and somewhat rounded at the tips, but in the Heath Hen less than ten in number, shorter and more pointed at the ends) and beneath these are two bare patches of skin which in the mating season are distended with air until they resemble small oranges. There is a slight crest on the head. Feet feathered to the toes with short, hair-like feathers. The female is marked like the male, but is somewhat smaller, of lighter and less de- cided colors. Her neck-tufts also are consider- ably smaller. The eastern bird is, if in any way different, a little smaller, darker colored, and perhaps shorter-legged than is the typical bird of the west. A distinct whitish spot on the tips of the scapulars is also a distinguishing char- acter of the eastern race. The Heath Hens do not gather into packs as winter comes on, (perhaps because, all told, 16 FEATHERED GAME there are not enough of them to make a respect- able pack) but seem to have adopted much the same mode of life as the ruffed grouse — a pro- ceeding which will tend to increase their chances of long life, for so long as their jackets will command a fair price at the collector's shop someone will try to compass their destruction. THE EUFFED GROUSE. PARTRIDGE. BIRCH PARTRIDGE (Bonasa umbellus.) This noble fellow is a dweller in most of our New England woodlands, thriving and flour- ishing under conditions which would be fatal to almost any other species. He is a hardy bird with a range of great extent, for from Alaska 's snow and ice to the sunny mountain slopes of the Carolinas and Georgia this gallant grouse is found, bearing equally well the breath of the northern winter and the heat of the southern sun. There is scarcely a portion of our coun- try where, under fitting conditions, our hero (in the south a pheasant, in the north a partridge, and in point of fact neither the one nor the other) is not found, and where found, resident. THE RUFFED GROUSE 17 The species is not strictly migratory, though in the northern parts of its range it moves southward at times with the severest weather, and may change its haunts at any time from natural causes, so that a locality may be very sparsely populated with grouse at one season only to swarm with them the next. In the different portions of their range these birds vary in their coloring, the bird of Oregon and neighboring States being in the most highly developed specimens a deep chestnut with warm reddish shades in his plumage, and the barrings on the flanks and under parts much heavier than in the typical bird. This variety is Bon- asa umbellus sahinii in the scientists' list. The Rocky Mountains have another variety, whose range is from Alaska, in the Yukon valley, southward to Colorado ; a race of paler coloring and somewhat smaller size. The body color is made up of grayish tones and has very little of chestnut or reddish shades in the markings. From its color scheme this is often called the Gray Ruffed Grouse, Bonasa umbellus umhel- loides. In the intermediate districts they grade imperceptibly one into the other. In the grouse of Maine we find a wide variation in color. 18 FEATHERED GAME Some specimens might almost pass for the most distant varieties — red as Sabine's or as light as those of the Rockies, and that, too, from the same nest. There is still more '' feather-split- ting" — a division of the eastern race into the variety, Bonasa umhellus togata, so named from the size of the ruffs, said to be more developed in this variety than in the typical bird. The body color is darker and the barrings on the flanks are heavier and blacker, also more and heav- ier dark markings on the buff of the throat than in the ordinary bird. This variety also aver- ages of larger size. The birds included in this classification are those of the northern and northeastern portions of the continent, west- ward to Manitoba. This is held to include the ruffed grouse of all our northern tier of States, westward as far as the Dakotas, and east and north through Canada. Thus our bird of Maine is a togata, but why need we care? By any other name he 'd be as ' ' foxy. ' ' Our Ruffed Grouse cannot be improved upon whatever he is called. Long may he flourish in our woods and hills ! The typical bird is supposed to dwell THE RUFFED GROUSE 19 throughout the remaining eastern and south- eastern portions of the United States. The Ruffed Grouse is about eighteen inches long, erect, sprightly and graceful in carriage and bearing, a pretty walker and a wonder- fully speedy runner, as anyone may prove to his entire satisfaction when he tries to capture a wounded bird, for when to the aid of its nim- ble feet it brings its half-spread wings, and with its toes barely touching the ground, half flies, half runs, only a good dog can overtake him. In color he is a beautiful chestnut brown, marked and penciled with gray and brownish black spots on neck, back, and breast — the col- ors to blend with the shade of dead grass and brown pine needles with the sunlight sifting down through the trees. There is a slight crest on his head, and on each side of the neck are the beautiful, glossy feather tufts from which the species takes its name. The '^ ruffles" are lus- trous purplish-black or bronze-brown^ — are smaller, it is said sometimes even lacking, in the females, and in no case of these that I have noticed have the dark feathers which make them 20 FEATHERED GAME met across the forebreast as in the males. It has been stated that the bronze ruff is the dis- tinguishing mark of the hen, but my own obser- vation would indicate that, in general, the red bird often has a bronze ruff, and the black or 13urplish ruff is found on the gray bird without regard to sex. It may be that the bird of three or four years of age is more likely to sport the dark ruffles, but I am not prepared to state it for a fact. The beautiful fan-like tail is finelv barred with black on a gray or red-brown ground, with a broad subterminal band of black, each feather ending with an ashy gray tip. In the female the subterminal bar across the tail feathers is usually broken, or at least much less noticeable on the central pair, and while not an invariable rule, it is, with the interruption of the ruffle feathers across the breast, a pretty safe mark for distinguishing the sexes. How far these distinctions may hold in the typical bird I know not. My experience has been al- most entirely with the northern bird, togata, which is surely not the least worthy member of the family. The male bird will average three or four ounces heavier than the female, running from THE RUFFED GROUSE 21 twentv-two to twenty-seven ounces. The lieav- iest bird of my own killing pulled the scales down to twenty-eight ounces, and this with an empty crop. The largest "partridge" that I ever saw weighed made a record of twenty- nine and one-half ounces. I am well aware that "competent judges" will "estimate" and fur- nish much more imposing figures, but I have noticed that these do not always tally with the scales. During our driving New England snow- storms partridges will sometimes take refuge from the cutting blasts or for a night's shelter from the cold by plunging from the wing into the heaped-up drifts, thence to emerge when the storm has passed. It is said that they are at times closed in by an icy sleet following upon the snow and making a crust through which they cannot break. In such cases the unfortu- nate prisoners are apt to furnish an unexpected feast to some prowling fox whose famine-sharp- ened nose has traced them out. This may cause more destruction than is realized, but the dan- ger is probably more theoretical than actual. There is usually small need to burrow at all in this latitude; furthermore, do you not think 22 FEATHERED GAME that a heavy fall of snow in worse than zero weather (and nothing less would drive them to cover) with a rise of temperature sufficient to thaw or rain, and then a ^^ freeze," each follow- ing the other and all taking place within the probable space of ten hours' time is a very great rarity even in a region as noted for weather eccentricities as is our dear New Eng- land ? From the many snug wigwams made by the pendant branches of evergreens or sturdy roofs of "junipers," over-arched with snow, sheltering some storm-harassed partridge and furnishing plenty of food of foxberry leaves and berries, which I see in my own range of woods I have small belief in any serious reduc- tion in our grouse population from this cause. In such shelters as these it is almost impossible to be so closed in that Mr. Grouse cannot get out when he desires. Many times when an ice- storm has been blamed for the apparent scarc- ity of grouse they have only departed on one of their regular ' ' spring movings. ' ' Surely, when the buds commence to swell and the "green things growing" start up through the remain- ing ice-blanket we do not expect the bird to stay THE RUFFED GROUSE 23 in the thick growth and tall timber which made his winter home. The burrowing habit is common to nearly all northern grouse. With this species it is more common in the extreme northern part of its range, where the snowfall is heavier and the snow itself less likely to ''crust," Rocky, birch-clad hillsides, deep ravines with tangles of brush and slender streams wind- ing through their depths, — the thickest, most imjjenetrable cover that the woods afford — these are their favorite spots. A finer game bird, a brainier dweller in the wilds it is hard to find. All the more so when he has made the acquaintance of Nimrod and his hammerless gun. This for the bird near civilization, for if we believe all we hear of him in the "big woods" we shall have small respect for his judgment. Still, we must make due allowance in "a hunter's yarn," which, as we know, gives us ''the truth, the whole truth," — and as much more as we can swallow. About April they begin to mate and the woods resound with the "long roll" of the male, "drumming" his serenade to the lady of his 24 FEATHERED GAME choice. Perhaps we should say ''ladies," for he usually has several wives and would take more if he could get them. He struts up and down on some old fallen tree, with his tail erect and widespread to its fullest extent, then suddenly dropping it and pressing it closely to the log, his short, powerful and deeply con- caved wings beat a continuous roll, slowly at first, but rapidly increasing in speed and vol- ume, then dying away again. This noise sounds like the rumble of far-off thunder and may be heard a long distance on a still day. The manner in which this "drumming" is pro- duced was a question for a long time undecided, many different theories being advanced. The old idea was that he struck his wings upon a hollow log, but if this were the case how does he drum upon stones, sound logs, or the top rail of a fence? The solution most generally accepted is that this strange music is caused by the vibration of the stiff quill feathers in their rapid motion through the air, these never touch- ing the body. The sound is very difficult to locate and from its peculiarly muffled tone ac- curate judgment of the performer's distance is almost impossible. The bird will use the same ID CO D O O Q LU U- U- THE RUFFED GROUSE 25 spot for his drumming for a long time, coming day after day to his chosen station. One old *' drumming log" is still in use near where I am writing, although the screen of spruces for- merly protecting it has been cut down these three years and it is now fifty yards to the near- est cover. Mr. Grouse, if he survives the perils of the fall months, will return next season; if not, another will ''take the stump" in the good cause and continue the business at the old stand. The courtship over and happily ended, the hen builds her nest in some secluded and safely hidden nook and begins housekeeping. Her home is a very modest affair, quite unpreten- tious. On the ground, in the shelter of a fall- en tree or in the shadow of a juniper bush a small depression is rounded out and lined with leaves, grass and dry pine needles — very little of the artistic but all for convenience and util- ity — simplicity itself. It contains from seven to sixteen eggs, creamy white, rather pointed at one end, and as may be guessed, when the youngsters arrive the mother bird has no lack of employment in caring for them, for at this season she leaves the male entirely and sets up housekeeping alone lest he destroy the nest and 26 FEATHERED GAME eggs. When the chicks are half grown the family is again united, the male bird usually joining during the latter part of August. The mother bird thus left to her own devices, displays great bravery in defense of her young, and will often fly at an intruder in the same fashion as a hen defending her brood. I re- member once when accompanied on a stroll through the woods by a bull terrier dog, that we came suddenly into a little opening among the trees and well-nigh stepped into a brood of little "cheepers." The dog being in advance, mother partridge made a furious dash at him, and when the astonished animal refused to be frightened, she made still another desperate charge right into his face, when he at once struck her down and stood with this new species of hen under his feet, making as though he would finish her at once, but, being an obedient fellow, and perhaps with the remembrance of former whippings for chicken killing, he reluct- antly let her go with no more damage than a few ruffled feathers. She lost no time in getting away when set free, for her point was won and not a chick was in sight. Failing by force to repel an invasion on her THE RUFFED GROUSE 27 domain, she next tries cunning, and will drag herself along the ground for some distance just in front of her eager pursuer, and only when he thinks to seize the crippled and wing-broken bird does she dash from the ground and whiz away to the safety of the nearest thick growth. Meanwhile the young birds have crept into the brush, slipped under dead leaves, flattened themselves upon the ground, it may be at your very feet, and lie there motionless, disappearing as if by magic from a spot which one second be- fore was fairly alive with chirping and peeping little yellowish-brown fluffy balls running in every direction. Once safely hidden they re- main quiet and still until the danger is past and they hear again the low, mellow call of the mother bird as she gathers her brood to run and feed as though nothing had happened. Few are the farmers ' boys who have not ' ' 'Most caught a pa'tridge, only" — and in that last word is the whole matter in a nut-shell — they didn't, in just this way. Yet it is no matter for wonderment that Master Barefoot is deceived by these tricks, for a more perfect piece of acting is not to be seen. Do you know a burnt patch in the woods, or a 28 FEATHERED GAME clearing that the lumberman has made, now growing np with blackberries, raspberries, and all the underbrush which so quickly covers up these unsightly scars on mother Nature's face? Then some bright September morning while the dew still glitters on blade and leaf, take your dog and gun and beat it up. A little amphi- theatre overgrown with berry bushes and low brush, walled in on every side by a sturdy growth of pines, spruces or hemlock, dark green and solid in their masses. One lone dead stub towers above the smaller and younger growth of the clearing. Gray and desolate it stands, bristling with the ragged and broken remains of its former lusty youth, and at its feet the bare ledge stone shows through its garment of moss, pine needles and scanty grass. Here is a low stump which a dozen changing seasons have almost levelled with the ground, and on its sides and at its base the marks of the par- tridges' scratching feet as they search for the grubs and worms, tenants at will of its inner chambers. On one side a shallow, round hole scooped out of the dry earth shows where the bird has made his dust bath and lain basking in the sun during the warm afternoons. And on THE RUFFED GROUSE 29 this knoll — Wliir-r-r! Quick, now! Too late! He dives down a ravine at the right and when he comes again into view he is too far away for shot to harm him. Where was the dog? I don't hear his bell. Ah! There he is — creep- ing cautiously up to a clump of blackberry bushes. Carefully, now, for every quick-witted, sharp-sighted grouse in the clearing is on the alert since that first bird tore down the gully at full speed. See that puppy! Isn't that a pic- ture for you? He performs like a veteran! He stiffens, and trembling with suppressed joy and eagerness, turns a cautious glance be- hind to see if vou know the critical state of things, as slowly turns back again and stands a marble statue against the background of green waving brakes and moss-grown stumps. A sec- ond later you hear the resentful scolding — ''Quit-quit! Quit-quit!" — a rapid patter of nimble feet on the dry leaves — Whir-r-r-r! Away he goes — a mere brown streak at light- ning speed! Perchance you have stopped their headlong rush many times before; in that case you may stop this one — if you have luck. It may be that this is your first experience, when it is 30 FEATHERED GAME probable that you will stand open-mouthed and stare with all the eyes in your head, until, diving into the green depths a hundred yards away, goes another lost opportunity. You may even do as did another of my acquaintances near the beginning of his sylvan career. He had stood ^*at gaze" at every rising grouse and was empty-handed in a cover where by moderate shooting skill he might have made a fair bag, for the season was just beginning and the young birds were lying well. He declared he would do better at the next point (as they all do) and when the next bird flushed he threw his gun to his shoulder and shouted, ''Bang!" with all his lungs. He had the right idea, however, and can now hold his own with the most of them. That roaring, rushing flight is likely to con- fuse any but a veteran. Yet no owl can fly more noiselessly than he when he is so minded. I know many a good duck- and snipe-shot that will invariably forget to shoot when Mr. Grouse dashes out — Steady, now! Another point! Whir-r-r ! Away he goes and as you pull trig- ger he swerves suddenly from his course and you have missed him. Yes, your muttered re- THE RUFFED GROUSE 31 mark was apt and appropriate, but better luck next time. The dog moves up and points just where the last bird burst out from among the junipers, and you laugh and say, ''One on you, old boy!" and come carelessly up to stand by his side as you reload. At the snap of your gun as you close it another bird dashes out al- most from beneath your feet. What a chance ! Straightaway, and as steady as a standing mark! The shot of a lifetime! Bang! And as the gentle breeze carries off the thin blue haze of the nitro you catch a glimpse of his falling body. Thud! The strong wings beat a rapid tattoo upon the dead leaves, scattering the brown pine needles, then are still. The feathers drift down wind in a cloud, and re- loading as you go, you hasten to gather him in. For a short time the fun is fast and furious; the covey puts for the thick of the woods singly and in pairs, leaving toll, let us hope, and giv- ing you rare sport. When all have left the open you go down into the gully where the noon- day sun scarcely penetrates. At the bottom a slender stream complains and gurgles as it tumbles over mossy stones and twists under fallen tree trunks. There he goes! Your gun 32 FEATHERED GAME is at your shoulder but you see him only dimly and mark his course mostly by the shaking twigs and so decide to wait until he tops yon fallen tree and comes more clearly into view. Thus you learn that you must take this fellow when you can, for he knows better than to rise into your open view like that. Such a move might do for a woodcock, but this master of sylvan strategy knows a trick worth two of that. He dives below the log, runs into the rankly growing brakes and fifty yards beyond again takes wing to fly in safety into a thick hemlock on the side hill. You lower your gun and exclaim, ''Well, I'll be hanged!" (or words to that effect), and a red squirrel, sole witness of your defeat, goes scurrying up the spruce tree at your side and jeers and chuckles and ''sasses" you with all the wild-wood impudence at his command. No opportunity should be al- lowed to pass unimproved if you are to make a good score. Your percentage of kills to car- tridges used is bound to be small, so don't try to "fatten your average" by picking shots. Under ordinary conditions one cannot make a bag of Ruffed Grouse and be sparing of his ammunition. It is often necessary to shoot THE RUFFED GROUS 33 through the brushy screen at the sound of their wings — pull trigger at the glimmer of a feather, or through the leaves where the bird may be — taking every chance, however slight, to bring this game to bag. I think all "brush gunners" will agree that this is not the easiest bird to hit when once on the wing — a mere flash of quick- moving, roaring wings, and a glimmer of sun- light on his russet-brown back — gone! Per- haps the cunning rascal marked where you stood and ran swiftly to get a thick hemlock be- tween himself and your gun, then a leap into the air, an arrowy flight, and when you have hurried to one side to get a sight at him he is two gunshots away. "Don't they ever give you a sitting shot?" 0, yes ! When you are tangled up on the points of a wire fence, with one barb stuck into the middle of your back just where it cannot be reached with either hand, and another induce- ment to profanity has a grip on the leg of your trousers, — at such times a grouse will often "flap" lazily from the ground into a tree right over your back and perch where you can see him only by twisting your neck almost off, but shoot! 0, no! There he will sit and criticise 34 FEATHEEED GAME the language in which you voice your benevo- lent wishes for the future welfare of the invent- or of that style of fence (may they be fulfilled!) until he sees signs of the barbs letting go their hold, when he is away like a bullet, his wings a mere haze as they roar through the branches. Occasionally the farmer's cur is ''trained" for a "pa'tridge dawg;" that is to say, his nat- ural propensities to bark and "yap" are turned to some account He runs in upon the young flocks, which instantly take to the trees; the dog then makes such a noise with his continua? yelping and running about that the birds see and hear nothing but this miserable intruder, and so allow the mighty hunter to creep unob- served within easy distance, maybe to take a resting shot at their motionless bodies. Often honest cocker spaniels are degraded by this low practice. In the mind of the sportsman this stands almost as high as driving a doe to water and paddling a canoe alongside to blow her brains out with a charge of buckshot. There is a widespread notion that when a flock is thus "treed" a pot-shooter may secure several birds before they will take alarm and fly if he will take care to shoot the lowest one 3 o >, *-^- U ' Z3 ■u ri u -4— > ■y) c 4^ o y) L^ bJD 'A -a be (/I a B o o E E -4—' Zj rt ■o rt bC r^ <-( i^ « V t/) 'J OJ !/) V r^ i^ W t^ ^ 3 t/) X> -(-' r^ aj d bO r— 3 -4— > M r. > ^ (^ C C3 bD TD C/) ^4— CZ bXl O rs r^ ■^ >> r- r^ 5 -*— ' o '.*— Lm ~3 o bJD 'V ^ 'yi 'J X) cd « L- -1-) XI D. Vj O. _^ -*-' 4-> r^ +-> C/1 +-» L- c 'J bO « ^ Xi o P