94 BULLETIN 162, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Behavior. — Coues (1874) quotes from Mr. Trippe's notes, as fol- 

 lows: 



On being suddenly startled, this bird takes wing with great rapidity, some- 

 times uttering a loud cackling note, very much like that of the Prairie Hen on 

 similar occasions, frequently alighting on the lower limb of a tree after flying a 

 little way, and watching the intruder with outstretched neck. Sometimes they 

 will fly up to the top of a tall pine and remain hidden in the thick foliage for a 

 long time ; nor will they move or betray their position, although sticks and 

 stones are thrown into the tree, or even a shot fired. Late in summer many 

 of them ascend to the upper woods to feed upon the multitudes of grasshoppers 

 that swarm there in August and September, in the pursuit of which they wander 

 above timber-line, and may sometimes be met in great numbers among the 

 copses of willows and juniper that lie above the forests. 



Edwyn Sandys (1904) says that this grouse 



is most difficult to locate even when perched upon a limb only a few yards away. 

 In its native woods the light is baffling and there is a confusion of shade, amid 

 which the general slaty tone of the plumage is barely distinguishable. A coat 

 of feathers especially designed with a view to protective coloration could not 

 better serve the purpose, and the bird appears to be perfectly aware of this. 

 Indeed, its habit of trusting to its trick of treeing and remaining motionless 

 has earned for it the names of " fool-grouse," which I believe should be applied 

 only to young birds. These unquestionably will tree and foolishly maintain 

 their positions while their comrades are being shot or clubbed down, but the 

 older birds, except in seldom disturbed localities, are wiser. 



But fool grouse or no, when once the bird concludes to start there is no more 

 foolishness. With a nerve-shaking whirring it promptly gets to top speed, and 

 usually darts downhill, a maneuver which greatly adds to the difficulty of the 

 shot. When taking wing it cackles like a scared fowl. 



Game. — Referring to it as game bird, Sandys (1904) writes: 



Among western sportsmen it is termed the " blue," or " gray," grouse, and 

 those who have enjoyed the pleasure of shooting and later eating it have yet 

 to be heard from in the line of adverse criticism. Its sole fault as a game bird 

 consists in its seldom being found in cover which affords a fair chance to the 

 gun. In fact, it is such an inveterate lover of trees that it takes to the branches 

 as naturally as a duck takes to water. Like the ruffed grouse, it will tree, and 

 remain motionless until it fancies it has been observed ; then it at once departs 

 with a sounding rush, which may only be stopped by the quickest and most 

 skilled of shots. I have flushed it when it seemed to do hardly anything more 

 than leap from the ground to a convenient limb, and more than once, while 

 seeking to trim off its head, it has left the perch so suddenly that the gun could 

 not be shifted in time to prevent the wasting of a shell — and this little joke at 

 the expense of a notoriously quick shot. 



Only those familiar with the western cover can understand how easy it is 

 to fail to bag at short range a bird about as large as a common barnyard hen — 

 to be accurate, of between three and three and one-half pounds' weight. The 

 tenderfoot would imagine such a bird, rising close at hand, to be an easy, per- 

 haps too easy, mark. Let the tenderfoot climb the steeps and try a few blue 

 grouse as they leave the trees, and his song may take on an undertone sugges- 

 tive of blasted hopes and trust betrayed. In the first place, the cover usually 

 is standing timber big enough to stop a locomotive, to say nothing of small shot. 

 This timber, as I found it, is about as close as it can stand, thereby forming 



