The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1892-08-29
|AAT The GROUSE EAT
10y Are Very Dainty Feeders and
the Best Is Always .
Good Enough
D Neat In Their Habits a. tho
Most Metropolitan
Dude.
here They Sleep In Wa weather and
Dry Weather Under this
Snow Fer Shelter.

Grouse are fond Of tearing the hsshy
uit,of the skunk cabbage to pieces In or
u to get at tho seeds. They dsvour the
nit OF all of the species OF wild grapes
it'll avidity, and a oovsv of grouse feeding
nonR the tangled festoons Of arsps vines
finishes m inspiring spectacle for one
no knows how to approach them with due
lution. The leaves of the bishops Gap
riarella cordifolia and Il nuda) are ~
APPLE an article Of diet with rnffed grouse
} bread and butter are 10 the American
ftizen, and at all ssssons OF the year frag-
lents of the rough lobed leaves are found
their crop. even 10 the exclusion Of al
ther articles Of diet at times. During tho
Hintsr the food &C insists principally OF the
uds of birch. poplar and maple tress,
10 leaves end berli es Of the winterRreen,
md the leaves Of the bishops cap; and as
here are very few days during the winter
hen grouse csnnot find All abundance Of
ONE one of these forms of p%rovender they
re almost always in good condition and AZ
plump as pattridges." Kalmis leaves,
Fhich are sometimes eaten by them in win
or, are said on good authority to make the
lesh temporarily poisonous for man, and
be fact that tho birds food directly affects
heir flesh ia exemplifsd in the delicious
kromatic flavor of grouse that have been
eedinR extensively upon birch buds and
vintergreens, the grateful odor pervadina
he whole house when such birds are 80 I'M
ortunate az TO get upon the hot old kitchen
tove just before dinner time.
Ruled grouse are as neat In their habits
ks such proud and se~lf-rssrectin9 birds
pught to DO, and they are worry fond OF
busting in the wallow holes which they
make in the dry dust Of crumblina logs in
The woods. Wherever the grouse live We
are 40 certain to find their busting holes
that the hunter wastes no time in the
woods in which the crumbling logs have
hot been thu utilized bv the elite. During
the day the birds spend most OF their time
|in the brushy edges of the woods and in the
brandy gullies that extend out into the
fields. and If there are stumps near at hand
lin the open tbs grouse are fonu OF running
the middle of the day. We should
naturally expect to find the grouse on the
sunniest hillsides when the weather il very
cold, but they seem to be rather indifferent
to the tempe nature of their surroundings
and the covey ia almost a. likely to bs
found in the dreary north facing ravlne
as on the When u''m .bev s00'h. srs ' Il
company the birds keep up a constant talk.
ling to each othe', but in low voices as
Though fearful OF being overheard. There
are Querulous notes from the spinsters and
solemn warnings from the dianihed mat
rons when obstreperous young cooks chal-
lenRe each other to a wrestle. but the loud
est vocal expression of tho ruded grouse i.
the ciuoking and aquealinR Of a bid that
has lain long to the dog, whsn, running
like a rabbit out from under the brush
heap, he bustles on roaring wing ava
through the swishinR birch twigs and givei
vent to his emotions. as be departs. Not al
grouse squeal when thus flushed, but they
seldom fail to utter their loudeAt notes
when aliRhting on n tree overhead after be-
ing startled: and whom running for q hid
ing place they utter a hurried quit, quit,
quit" that attracts the immediate atten.
ton Of tho dog. A mother grous witt
young whines precisely like a dog when an
enemy is near her blood.
At night the grouse usually sleep upon
the ground. and indifferently in the woods
or out in the open clearing if the weather il
dry. When it is rainy they sleep under logs
or rocks or clumps of conifers. and fire.
quently a whole Oovey will be found al
night scattered along under an old tumble
down fence in the woods. In winter wher
the snow is deep they sleep either high ul
In conlfsrous trees or under tho snow IL
the open, 20 that just at evening it il NJ
uncommon sight to see a oovey Of grouse
diving from wing, one after another into
the snow. If the weather 10 very
boistsrous and the birds happen Il
dive down to . patch of w~lntergrsens o.
clover or young winter wheat they may
---.~:- -~l~ kh1 a-@- TO- cnrnrnl lo.u
burrowinQ for short distances and estinl
the green leaves that are thus found
When . grouse is sitting quietly at NJ
great depth beneath the snow, a little hol'
about AZ large as ones finger is kept epsl
by the birds breath, and the moisture con
gealinQ in large fakes upon tho frost.
twies or grass just over the hole will easil!
the grouse In such q position will allow on
TO approach quite near before he leaves hi
comfortable room beneath the winds.
The snow 10 sometimes too hard to aerv,
for house purposes, and then the birds ma.
not aliRht upon tho ground for many day
at q time, but fly from tho hiding tops o
sverRreens to the trees in which they bat
at morning and at evening. On the frs
warm day though. whom tho sun has soft
ened the snow, the boy who is following
rabbit in the warm corner OF tho thicke
will suddenly come upon the neatest. tn
trimmest and the most inspiring bird trac
that il ever imprinted in any woods on tn
pare white surface Of this good earth Q
Cars. Three evenly spread toe marks i
front of one shor straight mark behind
One foot mark just as far In advance o
the previous one 10 that 10 ahead Q
the ono before II. and all in deh
nlte order. Here the tracks leadl
around = messy boulder; there it goes alon
the whole length of that h~alf-sunken 10
and then straight out through the sheer
path among the hazsls. No slipshod stel
per ever made such marks. So clear. q
we'll defined. SO mathematical a track 10 in
dicative only of such character a. belong
to the noblsst Of all game birds, and per.
haps the boy will hear from him in = mo
msnt. MOI There is whore he struttsd