128 GROUSE, PARTRIDGES, QUAILS, ETC. 



ming. The muffled wing-beats suggest distant thunder, though the 

 sound is much the same at twenty feet or forty rods. I have often 

 crept up within twenty or thirty feet of an old cock and watched 

 him. Standing in a perfectly natural position, he begins without 

 any warning. The wings are slightly raised and brought quickly 

 down to the sides, one, two, three, four, five, six times, — you can 

 count no farther, — the buzzing wings are lost in a blur, and the 

 sounds blend in a crescendo roar. For hours at a time through the 

 breeding season the drumming is kept up at intervals of from one 

 to several minutes. It is heard mainly in the morning and evening, 

 but irregularly at all times of day and night, though always from 

 the same spot. Vernon Baeley. 



300b. B. u. umbelloides {Dough). Gray Ruffed Grouse. 

 Adult male. — Ruffs black, with bluish green gloss to tips ; upper parts 



gray, whole surface finely 

 mottled gray and black, more 

 or less washed with rufous, 

 blotched with black, and 

 streaked with white ; tail al- 

 ways gray, with broad black 

 subterminal band ; under 

 ■pj 202 parts white and bufFy, barred 



with brown. Adult female : 

 similar but smaller, with neck tufts rudimentary or obsolete. Young : 

 similar to adult female, but browner, barring paler, less distinct, dim 

 white, and neck tufts wanting. Length : 15.50-19.00, wing 7.00-7.50, tail 

 5.50-7.00. 



Distribution. — Breeds in Canadian and Hudsonian zones, in the central 

 Rocky Mountain system of the United States, British America, and 

 Alaska. 



Nest. — A hollow at base of tree or rock, or by a fallen treetop or 

 brush pile. Eggs : 8 to 14, varying from white to pinkish buff, stained 

 with brown. 



Food. — Wild fruit and berries, seeds, buds, and green leaves. 



300c. B. u. sabinl {Dough). Oregon Ruffed Grouse. 



Like B. u. umbelloides, but much darker ; upper parts black and dark 

 rusty or reddish brown, rarely with any gray ; tail usually deep rusty, 

 rarely grayish ; under parts heavily marked with blackish and washed 

 with buffy brown. 



Distribution. — Resident in humid Transition and Canadian zones in 

 coast ranges from British Columbia south to Humboldt County, Cali- 

 fornia. 



Nest. — As described by Bendire, a hollow under fallen branches lined 

 with dead leaves, spruce needles, and a few feathers. Eggs : 7 to 13. 



Food. — Similar to that of other grouse. 



GENUS LAGOPUS. 



General Characters. — Toes and tarsus densely feathered, tail less than 

 two thirds as long as wing, with long coverts reaching to tip. 



