Definition of "ruffed grouse" []

• A chickenlike North American game bird (Bonasa umbellus) having mottled brownish plumage and noted for the drumming sounds the male makes with its wings. Also called birch partridge. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.