Forest Mystery

While walking in our woodlot, my wife and I came upon this cluster of hatched eggs at the base of a very old, dead, white cedar tree. Naturally, seeing all of the cracked open eggs certainly caught our attention. After we studied the area for some time and took into account some of the existing clues, like a remaining feather or two, we concluded that all the eggs appeared to have been opened in such a manner that one could see they were not opened by any type of predator. We came to the conclusion that this was the remains of a ruffed grouse (partridge) nest. One could see that the mother hen really did her work and investigation to make for a pretty secluded spot to have her chicks.