398 - TETRAO OBSCURUS, DUSKY GROUSE. 



iu search of berries, seeds, &c. When alarmed, they almost invnriably 

 seek safety in the dense foliage of the trees, instinctively appearing to 

 understand the advantage of thus hiding. In the antumn tliey are more 

 generally found on the ground feeding on sallal and other berries. One 

 day, in October, 185G, 1 saw on the Nisqnally plains, among fern and 

 grass, five of these birds, fall grown and in excellent order. A man 

 killed the whole five, one by one, with a double-barreled gun, without 

 an attempt being made by a single individual to tly. This Gronse is a 

 very fine table bird ; the little dash of pine taste its flesh possesses oidy 

 adding to its game flavor. I have known males, in June, weighing three 

 and a half pounds, although they rarely exceed two and three fourths 

 pounds. By August 1st the young are generally half grown. They are 

 then easily killed on the wing, and are excellent for the table." 



In the same work Dr. Cooper remarks that the Blue Grouse is com- 

 mon in most of the forests of the Territory, though less so near the 

 coast, and continues: "As it rarely appears on the open prairie, it 

 is difficult to find, if, as usual, it alights on a tree. So perfectly mo- 

 tionless does it sit, that though one may be looking straight at it, he 

 will ])robably mistake it for a knot or a bunch of leaves. * * * * 

 During May near the coast, and until August iu the mountains, the low 

 tooting of this Grouse is heard everywhere, sounding something like the 

 cooing of a Pigeon, and in the same deep tone as the drumming of a 

 Euffed Grouse. It has the power of ventriloquism, so that while the 

 bird may be sitting iu a tree overhead, the sound seems to come from 

 ])laces quite distant. I have not seen the nest or eggs, but in June 

 flocks of half-grown young are murdered by the Indians near Paget 

 Sound. In winter they are so rarely seen west of the mountains, that 

 the people think they must keep entirely in the trees. In October, 1853, 

 I saw, however, a flock running through the snow, near the Spokane 

 plains, and one of them was shot; but I have never seen them since 

 then in the winter." 



The same writer has some additional remarks in his later work on the 

 Birds of California: "This fine game bird is common in Oregon and 

 Northern California, extending in the Coast Eange nearly to San Fran- 

 cisco Bay, and in the Sierra Nevada to about latitude 38°. They are 

 brought to market in winter from the mountains near Napa, and are 

 said to come down at times into the valleys, but have never been met 

 with in California south of San Francisco. In the Sierra Nevada, lati- 

 tude 39°, I found them rather scarce, and in Sei)tember onlj^ above an 

 elevation of 6,000 feet, but was informed that they went much lower 

 down in winter, probably about as far as the snows fall, or to about 

 2,000 feet, in that latitude. I think their range is more dependent on 

 the prevalence of spruce and other dense coniferous forests than on the 

 climate, as it is much milder near Napa than at that elevation in the 

 Sierra Nevada, and toward the north they frequent valleys. I have seen 

 them near the Columbia Kiver at all seasons, usually inhabiting the 

 dense forests. They, however, come out on the borders of prairies and 

 openings when not molested, especially in the early morning. * * * * 

 Their food consists of various berries, nuts, and seeds, besides grain 

 around farms. * * * * lu winter they live much on the buds of 

 trees, even those of the coniferai." 



Quotation of Dr. Newberry's notice will add to the interest of the 

 present article: "The Dusky Grouse, among American species, is only 

 second in size to the ' Sage Hen' ( T. urophaslamts). The cock is decidedly 

 the handsomest of all American Grouse, and the flesh is white, and 

 equal to that of the Eufled Grouse or the American Partridge. This 



