FOOD OF THE GROUSE AND MOUNTAIN QUAIL OF 
CENTRAL CALIFORNIA. 
BY L. BELDING. 
In autumn the grouse ( Dendragapus obscurus fuliginosus ), of 
the Sierra Nevada at about seven thousand feet altitude, has a 
great variety of food as I have ascertained by dissecting many of 
them. The thimbleberry (Rubus Nutkanus), appears to be its 
favorite article of diet, and next to this, the service berry 
(Amelanchier alnifolia). Several kinds of wild currants and goose- 
berries, including Ribes sanguineum and R. Menziesii and red 
elderberries (Sambucus racemosa ) are hardly less acceptable. 
Berries of manzanita (Arctostaphylos pungens and A. Nevadensis ) 
and the mountain twin berry (Lonicera conjugtalis), the huckle- 
berry (Vaccinium occidentale) and of the mountain ash (Pyrus 
sambucifolia), are also eaten. The seeds of lupines, of Polygonum 
polymorphum, of the very abundant false sun-flower ( Wyethia 
mollis), of caraway (Glycosma), and acorns of the dwarf oak 
(Quercus chrysolepis var. vacciniifolia), add to the variety. The 
last two named are also eaten by deer and Indians. I have seen 
Washoe Indians have a pile of not less than thirty bushels, of nicely 
cleaned seeds of Glycosma occidentale. After the young grouse — 
are hatched the mother bird takes them to alder and willow thickets 
where they find seclusion and water. Here they also find some insect 
food (which seems to be very necessary to young birds of most- 
species), and a species of native red clover, the green leaves and 
heads of which supply them, for a time, with nearly all the food 
they require. 
Old as well as young birds appear to be very fond of the mitre- 
wort ( Mfitella Breweri), which grows in these damp, shady situa- 
tions. About the middle of August the females, with their broods, 
begin to change their haunts and range higher in the mountains, 
and then feed partly upon the foliage of fir trees ( Adies concolor 
and magnifica), and hemlock spruce ( 7suga Pattoniana), the latter 
being apparently preferred. The old males feed upon the foliage 
of these conifers nearly all the year and during the winter when 
everything is covered with snow all grouse must subsist upon it. 
Some years, late summer frosts destroy the berry and seed crops 
and then the grouse are limited to a diet of a few kinds of vegetable 
food, grasshoppers and other insects. One such year, during Sep- 
