92 BULLETIN 16 2, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



other times you may hear his mimic thunder overhead again and again in his 

 flight from tree to tree. As you walk along he leads, and this reeonnoitering 

 on his part, if you are not familiar with it, may cause you to suppose that the 

 trees are alive with these Grouse. He then takes his stand upon a rock, stump, 

 or log, and in the manner already described distends the lower part of his neck, 

 opens his frill of white, edged with the darker feather tips, showing in its 

 center a pink narrow line describing somewhat the segment of a circle, then 

 with very little apparent motion he performs his growling or groaning, I don't 

 know which to call it, having the strange peculiarity of seeming quite distant 

 when quite near, and near when distant ; in fact, appearing to come from every 

 direction but the true one. The first time I heard the sound I concluded it 

 was the distant laboring of one of our small mountain sawmills wrestling in 

 agony with some cross-grained saw-log. 



Nesting. — I have never seen a nest of this grouse, and very little 

 seems to have been published about it. W. L. Sclater (1912) says: 

 " The nest, which has been described by Henshaw and Burnett, is 

 placed on the ground, generally in an open glade but sheltered or 

 somewhat concealed; that found by Burnett was placed in a hollow 

 under two old logs, it being a simple structure of dried grass or pine 

 needles." Mrs. Bailey (1928) says that the nest is "a shallow de- 

 pression beside a log or under grass or bushes, slightly lined with a 

 few pine needles or a little grass." 



Bendire (1892) describes a nest found by Henshaw, as follows: 



A nest found June 16 contained seven eggs on the point of hatching. The 

 nesting site was a peculiar one, being in an open glade, where the grass had 

 been recently burned off. The nest proper was a slight collection of dried 

 grass placed in a depression between two tussocks, there apparently having 

 been no attempt made at concealment. 



Eggs. — From 7 to 10 eggs are usually laid by the dusky grouse, 

 and as many as 12 have been found in a nest. Bendire (1892) says 

 that " an egg is deposited daily, and incubation does not commence 

 till the set is completed." The eggs are ovate to elongate ovate in 

 shape. The shell is smooth, with little or no gloss. The ground 

 colors vary from " pinkish buff " to " pale pinkish buff " or to " car- 

 tridge buff." They are usually evenly covered with very small 

 spots or minute dots, generally quite thickly; some eggs are less 

 thickly and more irregularly covered with somewhat larger spots; 

 very rarely an egg is immaculate. The colors of the spots are " sayal 

 brown," " clay color," or " cinnamon-brown," rarely darker. The 

 measurements of 54 eggs average 49.7 by 34.9 millimeters; the eggs 

 showing the four extremes measure 52.3 by 34.4, 50.6 by 37.1, 46.2 

 by 34, and 50 by 31.8 millimeters. 



Young. — Bendire (1892) quotes Denis Gale as follows: 



Upon one occasion I met with a covey which had just been hatched ; they 

 were quite nimble, and with the exception of one which I caught they hid them- 

 selves with great address. Until I released the little prisoner the female 

 showed great distress, clucking in the most beseeching manner, accompanied 



