106 BULLETIN 16 2, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



which, early in spring, the males respond very readily. An experienced hunter, 

 by imitating this cackle, can call the birds to him and thus pot them with the 

 least possible effort. 



Nesting. — My first and only nest of this species was found on 

 May 7, 1911, on the island in Lake Washington referred to above. 

 Mr. Rathbun guided us to an old clearing, which he said was the 

 breeding ground of these grouse; it was an open, sunny hillside, sur- 

 rounded by large fir trees and covered with large fallen logs, clumps 

 of brakes, shrubs, and small trees. We had been hunting here less 

 than 10 minutes when a big grouse flushed from under a small fir 

 tree just ahead of me, and there was the nest with seven fresh eggs. 

 The nest was on a little knoll under the small fir, which was only 

 about 7 feet high, and was only partially concealed; the nest cavity 

 was about 7 inches in diameter and 3 inches deep, with a well-built 

 rim of green mosses and ferns, and was lined with dry leaves, ferns, 

 bits of rubbish, and plenty of grouse feathers. 



F. Seymour Hersey collected a set of seven eggs for me, near 

 Tacoma, Wash., on May 3, 1914. The nest was in an open situation 

 in a fir forest and was plainly visible at a distance of 25 feet ; it was 

 under the end of a fallen log, a hollow 4 inches deep and 7 inches 

 in diameter, well shaped, and lined with twigs and moss, with which 

 the ground was carpeted, and with a few feathers of the bird. 



J. Hooper Bowles has sent me his records of some 23 nests found 

 near Tacoma between April 30 and May 22. He says in his notes : 



In the selection of a nesting site this grouse, as a rule, prefers a very dry, 

 well-wooded locality, where it scratches out a considerable depression in the 

 ground at the base of a tree, under a fallen branch or other shelter. I have 

 found nests under old boxes, a large tangle of wire netting from a henyard, etc. 

 However, at times they will nest as far as a hundred yards from trees of any 

 kind and with very little concealment. The nesting material is the same as 

 a barnyard hen would use under similar conditions, being mostly what it can 

 reach when the bird is on the nest and what falls into it in the course of 

 Incubation. A goodly number of feathers also come out of the bird, so that 

 the nests are often objects of decided beauty. 



The period of deposition of the eggs is extremely variable, and it is doubt- 

 ful if they ever lay an egg a day regularly. To give what may be considered 

 an extreme case was a nest found on May 3, 1928, when it contained two eggs. 

 This nest was built in the side of a huge ant hill about 4 feet in diameter and 

 against a large fir tree, the whole place being swarming with large and 

 ferocious red ants. On Mny 9, the nest contained only five eggs, and on the 

 12th it still had only five eggs and had them half buried with hill material, 

 so I concluded that the ants had made the bird desert. However, on passing 

 the place on May 22, I walked over to see if they were all covered over and 

 was astounded to see the female grouse sitting peacefully on her treasures. 

 She was completely surrounded with ant hill and hundreds of ants were 

 running all around her busy with their duties, but not an ant went on her, 

 although a friend and I watched her for some 20 minutes. We flushed her 

 and found that she had cleaned out the nest and lined it with green fir sprays. 



