FOOD OF THE GROUSE AND MOUNTAIN QUAIL OF 

 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA. 



BY L. BELDING. 



In autumn the grouse ( Deiidragapus obscurics fuliginosjis), 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 ( Rubiis 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 ( Sauibucu^ racemosa) are hardly less acceptable. 

 Berries of manzanita ( Arctostaphylos pungens and A. NevadeJisis) 

 and the mountain twin berry ( Lonicera cojiJtigialis),th.e. huckle- 

 berry ( Vacdnmm occidentale) and of the mountain ash (Pyrus 

 sambiicifolia), are also eaten. The seeds of lupines, of Polygonum 

 polymorpJnim , of the very abundant false sun-flower ( Wyethia 

 mollis), of caraway ( Glycosma), and acorns of the dwarf oak 

 ( Qjiercus chrysolepis var. vaccifiiifolia) , 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 

 specie-s), 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 ( Mitella 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 (Abies co7icolor 

 and magnijica), and hemlock spruce ( Tsuga Pattoniayia), 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 

 fond, grasshoppers and other insects. One such year, during Sep- 



