12 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



GROUSE 



Order GallincE ; suborder Phasiani ; family Tetraonidcs 



HE Grouse include the larger forms of the rough-footed, fowl-like game birds. 

 They are characterized by completely feathered legs (except in the case 

 of the Ruffed Grouse and its subspecies, the Canada Ruffed Grouse), and by 

 the fact that the nostrils and nasal grooves are concealed by feathers. The 

 toes are naked, except in the Ptarmigans, and are equipped along the edges 

 with comb-like growths, which are shed from time to time. The tail, which 

 may be rounded, forked, or pointed, has from sixteen to twenty-two feathers. 

 The region about the eye generally is more or less bare and some species have 

 a naked spot on the side of the neck. The commonest colors in the Grouse's 

 plumage (which is dense and soft) are various shades of brown, red, and 

 gray, with dark greens and purples appearing in some species ; but conspicuous 

 colors and striking patterns do not occur. The male birds usually show more pronounced 

 colors than the females, and there are some seasonal variations, especially in the Ptarmigans. 

 Many species of Grouse prefer open plains and some even inhabit deserts. Generally, 

 however. Grouse prefer the woods and spend most of their lives on the ground, where they 

 get the greater part of their food and always build their nests; but some of the species when 

 flushed will usually alight in trees nearby. Their nests are roughly fashioned of twigs and 

 leaves. The eggs number from about six to twice as many, or more, of a brownish cast, 

 more or less spotted or blotched, especially in the case of the Ptarmigans. 



Grouse subsist upon seeds, buds, berries, snails, worms, insects and various other animal 

 and vegetable forms. They are polygamous, excepting the Ptarmigans, and the courtship 

 performances of the cocks include various kinds of strutting and dancing, and also the peculiar 

 drumming demonstrations, especially of the Ruffed Grouse. Also the cocks frequently 

 fight savagely for the possession of the hens. Generally Grouse seem intentionally to depend 

 upon their colors for concealment, and often will lie crouched on the ground until they are 

 almost trodden upon. When they do take to flight, it is usually at great speed and with a 

 whir of the wings which is fairly startHng. This is especially true of the Rufi^ed Grouse. 



The flesh of all of the Grouse has a very fine flavor, excepting that of a few of the species 

 which at times subsist largely upon spruce buds and other resinous growths. The family 

 comprises about twenty-five species and numerous subspecies, distributed throughout the 

 northern parts of the Old and New worlds, but is especially well represented in North 

 America, where it reaches its highest development. 



DUSKY GROUSE 

 Dendragapus obscurus obscurus (Say) 



A. O. U. .Number 297 



Other Names. — Blue Grouse ; Pine Grouse ; Pine 

 Hen ; Gray Grouse ; Fool Hen. 



General Description. — Length, 22 inches. Color 

 above, slaty-black ; below, bluish-ash. No crest : tarsus, 

 feathered; tail, fan-shaped with feathers (20) broad 

 and obtuse ; tail and wing about the same length. 



Color. — Adult M.\le: Ground color of the plumage 

 of head, neck, and upper parts in general, slaty black 

 almost completely obscured by narrow traverse mot- 

 tling of bluish-ash, these markings becoming pale 

 brown on shoulders and secondaries; shoulder-feathers 

 with white shaft streaks and terminal spot of white; 

 lores and line back of eye, broken gray and white, pro- 



ducing an indistinct streak; tail, brownish-black marbled 

 with gray tipped with a broad slate-gray bar ; throat, 

 broken slate and white ; checks dusky-black ; rest of 

 under parts, dark bluish-ash in front, lighter behind ; 

 feathers of lower parts margined with white, broader 

 on the flanks and under tail-coverts ; bill, black ; comb, 

 over eye, and neck drum, yellow ; iris, orange-brown. 

 Adult Female: Above, dusky-black, the plumage 

 varied by traverse bars of yellowish-brown, broader 

 and more regular in front, broken and mottled with other 

 shades of brown, behind; beneath, as in the male, 

 bluish-ash. broken along the center line of the abdomen; 

 the throat and sides with broken traverse bars of yel- 



