Read about the slideshow at Merle's Outdoor Recreation Articles on Examiner.com
Lewis called this bird, "the small brown pheasant" and he said it was "booted" or feathered to the foot. Actually, the feathers don't quite reach the foot. Click the link to the slideshow for photos that illustrate these points. 
A very popular game bird, the Ruffed Grouse can actually benefit from fire and even logging. Ruffed grouse inhabit dense cover of mixed conifer and deciduous trees and shrubs and are often found along stream bottoms. The mosaic of vegetation that grows in under the burned tree canopy or more open, logged area is beneficial to the grouse providing them secure cover.
If you have been in the woods and heard a drumming sound in the spring, you may have heard a male Ruffed Grouse performing his mating ritual. To identify the Ruffed Grouse, look for the fan-shaped, banded tail and black ruff. No other grouse has these attributes.
The female builds a nest on the ground and usually hatches her eggs in June or sometimes early July. They will remain in the area and within a smaller home range and more densly covered habitat than the farther-ranging dusky or spruce grouse. Adult ruffed grouse may spend most of their lives in less than two square miles of habitat.
The young move from the area where they were brooded, especially when subject to moderate hunting pressure or heavy predation, but most importantly for food. The young grouse switch from a diet rich in insects, berries and greens to the foods that sustain them over the winter, including alder and aspen buds. During the early season, ruffed grouse usually feed on the ground, but once the snow flies, you will see them feeding among the branches of the trees. So if you are hunting for Ruffed Grouse in the fall, look for dense mixed woods with lots of alder or aspen.
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