SOOTY GROUSE 113 



mountain forests to spend the winter. Mr. Haskin says in his 



notes : 



It is a remarkable bird, with habits all its own. Throughout the winter 

 months the birds are seldom seen, even in places where they are most abundant, 

 for at this season they retire to the heavy fir timber, and spend their time 

 very quietly high up in the trees. During this season they feed almost 

 exclusively on fir buds, and do not even descend to the ground to drink, for the 

 abundant rainfall makes it possible for them to quench their thirst in the 

 treetops. Personally, I do not think that the grouse ever voluntarily comes to 

 the ground during these months of retirement. Only when by accident they 

 are disturbed, as when woodsmen ave felling trees, are they likely to be seen 

 at all. In sections where the grouse are very abundant you may pass through 

 the woods day after day, and unless you understand their ways, never suspect 

 that such a bird is present. 



DISTRIBUTION 



Range. — Pacific coast mountain ranges of the United States, Can- 

 ada, and southeastern Alaska. 



The range of the sooty grouse extends north to southeastern 

 Alaska (Glacier Bay and Portage) and northwestern British Colum- 

 bia (Wilson Creek). East to British Columbia (Wilson Creek, 

 Hastings Arm, and Westminster) ; central Washington (Barron, 

 Buck Creek Pass, Cascade Tunnel, Ellensburg, and Signal Peak) ; 

 central Oregon (Wapinita, Fort Harney, and Drews Creek) ; north- 

 eastern California (Warner Mountains and Honey Lake) ; western 

 Nevada (Truckee and Marlette Lake) ; and southeastern California 

 (Bishop Creek, Mount Whitney, and Piute Mountains). South to 

 southern California (Piute Mountains and Mount Pinos). West 

 to California (Mount Pinos, Dunlap, Yosemite Valley, Big Trees, 

 Mount Sanhedrin, summit of the Yolla Bolly Mountains, Summer- 

 ville, and the White Mountains) ; western Oregon (Glendale, Rose- 

 burg, Spencers Butte, Newport, and Tillamook) ; western Washing- 

 ton (Cape Disappointment, Grays Harbor, Hoh River, and Crescent 

 Lake) ; western British Columbia (Victoria, Mount Douglas, prob- 

 ably Delia Lake, Haida Mountain, and Massett) ; and the western 

 part of southeastern Alaska (Coronation Island, St. Lazaria Island, 

 Sitka, Cross Sound, Skagway, and Glacier Bay). 



The sooty grouse, formerly considered as a subspecies of the dusky 

 grouse {Dendragapus o. obscurus), is raised to full specific rank in 

 the 1931 edition of the A. O. U. Check List. Three additional sub- 

 species are recognized, the distribution as above outlined being for 

 the entire species. True fuliginosus is confined to the mountains of 

 the northwest coast from northwestern California and Oregon, north 

 to Alaska (Skagway) and northwestern British Columbia. D. f. 

 sitkensis occupies the islands of the southeastern Alaskan coast (ex- 



