102 BULLETIN 16 2, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



DENDRAGAPUS OBSCURUS FLEMINGI (Taverner) 

 FLEMING'S GROUSE 



HABITS 



The range of Fleming's grouse, as given in the new A. O. U. 

 Check List, includes northern British Columbia, southern Yukon, 

 and southwestern Mackenzie. The bird was described by P. A. 

 Taverner (1914), based on a small series of " specimens taken within 

 30 miles of Teslin Lake, on the boundary between British Columbia 

 and Yukon Territory, longitude 130° 30', at the west base of the 

 Cassiar Mountains. The range of the form cannot therefore be 

 defined." 



It was named after J. H. Fleming, of Toronto, Canada, and is 

 said to be " like Dendragapus obscurus richardsoni, without termi- 

 nal tail band, but darker in general coloration even than D. o. 

 fuliginosusP 



The subspecies is based on the characters of the male, and Mr. 

 Taverner (1914) says: 



The characters of the female are less marked than of the male and without 

 series for comparison may be difficult of recognition. However, they average 

 in the same directions as the male, being bluer underneath than richardsoni 

 and darker dorsally, with the rufous or rusty markings bolder and more 

 decided in character. 



Maj. Allan Brooks (1927) adds the following suggestion: 



The best character for separating flemingi from typical ricluirdsoni is not 

 the darker coloration of the males ; any large series will show dark colored 

 richardsoni and, as in Swarth's Teslin Lake bird, light colored flemingi; but 

 the blacker under tail coverts of the last named form with small white tips, 

 instead of the white tip covering almost the whole exposed portion of the 

 feather as in richardsoni. But birds from Revelstoke, Selkirk range, in 

 southern British Columbia show the extreme of blackness of the lower tail 

 coverts. It is possible that a wedge running southward to or near the Brit- 

 ish Columbian southern boundary splits the range of richardsoni. 



Harry S. Swarth (1926) says of the haunts and habits of Fleming's 

 grouse : 



In the Atlin region the " blue grouse " is resident and fairly common at high 

 altitudes. It is a favorite game bird of the region, both from its large size 

 and from the excellent quality of its flesh. Its habitat is about timber line, 

 where there is open country interspersed with clumps of balsam firs. The dense 

 thickets of these stunted trees, with their gnarled and spreading branches, 

 afford shelter from enemies and from inclement weather, and in the foliage 

 food also is furnished when other sources fail. 



The broods are cared for solely by the hen. The old cock is usually soli- 

 tary during the summer, though males of the previous year sometimes form 

 bmall coveys, together with non-breeding females. Such gatherings were en- 

 countered on several occasions. The hen with a brood is sometimes tame to the 

 verge of stupidity; I found several that were, literally, as indifferent to 



