C. ROUSE 



!,•) 



lowisli-browii ; middle tail- leathers mueli niDttled intrud- 

 ing on the ashy tip. 



Nest and Eggs. — Xkst: A slight depression in 

 the groinid under grass or bushes or alongside ol a 

 log; thinly lined with dry grass or pine needles. EcGS : 

 7 to 10, ereani or pale bulTy, spotted and speckled over 



llu' entire surface with sharply del'ined spots of reddish 

 brown. 



Distribution. — Rocky Mountains from northern 

 Utah and northern Colorado to central-western Xew 

 Me.vico and central Arizona, and west to East Hum- 

 lioldt .Mountains, Nevada. 



The Dusky Grouse is a western l)ir<l, tlie larg- 

 est and finest of American wood Grouse. It 

 is next in size to the .Sage lien and weighs two 

 and one-half to three and one-half ])ounds. 

 riiere are four recognized races of this Grouse, 

 namely: liie Dusky Grouse {Dendragapus ub- 

 scunis obscunts) of the .Aiuerican Rockies, the 

 Sooty Grouse (Dciidrayapiis obscunis fiiUtjlno- 

 stis) of the Pacific coast ranges, Richardson's 

 Grouse {Dcndragrapus obscunis richardsoni) of 

 the Canadian Rockies and south to Montana and 

 Wyoming and the -Sierra Grouse (Dciidrcu/apiis 

 obscunis sicrric) of the mountains of southern 

 Oregon, California and south to Mt. Pinos. The 

 various races are known locally by several ex- 

 ])ressive and descriptive names, the most common 

 of which are IJkie (irouse. Gray Grouse, Pine 

 Grouse, Pine Hen, and Fool Hen. 



The Dusky (irouse is an inhabitant of conif- 

 erous forests from sea level to timber line where- 

 ever its favorite trees grow. It haunts great 

 woods of fir, pine, and cedar, but seems to be most 

 common on the edges of the timber and along the 

 rare openings near the streams. Here in a quiet 

 glade, where the stream glides under a natural 

 bridge formed by a giant fallen tree, along the 

 moss-grown trunk of which wild beasts have 

 worn a narrow ])athway, the Blue Grouse woos 

 his mate. Alotmted jierhajjs tipon a fallen log, he 

 struts about with tail erect and drooping wings. 

 Now his neck ])ufFs and swells, the feathers on its 

 sides spreading and turning outward, their light 

 inner surfaces exposed, forming white rosettes 

 with a great red inflated air-sac showing in the 

 center, and so he blossoms to the sight of his 

 waiting mate, watching among the ferns. The 

 comb-like fiery wattles above his eyes distend as 

 he struts toward her, bows low, and deflates the 

 air sacs, expelling the air with a deep boom boom 

 boom. This, like similar sounds produced by 

 other Grouse, is more or less ventriloquial, and 

 seems almost as loud at a considerable distance 

 as when close at hand. When it is uttered, as is 

 sometimes the case, from a limb among the dense 

 foliage the concealed bird is very difificult to 

 discover. 



The love season over, and the eggs laid, the 

 female retires and becomes imperceptible, so 



closely does she resemble her surroundings, as 

 she sits motionless on her crude ground nest, 

 which is placed often in the open near the timber, 

 sometimes beneath a log or bush. Here, secure 

 in her invisibility, she sits until almost stejjped 

 tipon ; for the moment she leaves the nest the eggs 

 become cons])icuous, and she seems to lack the 

 artifices that the Ruffed Grouse employs to lead 

 the disturber away, though sometimes she does 

 her best. Mrs. Irene G. W'heelock asserts that 

 the male also attends and guards the youtig, but 

 this is an exceptional habit among .'\merican 

 Grouse. In auttimn when the young birds are 

 grown the individuals of each family reiuain 

 together. 



In the wilderness, where this Grouse seldom 

 has been hunted, it barely moves out of the 

 htinter's path, and, if flushed, merely hops or flut- 

 ters into the lower branches, turning its head 

 from side to side and regarding the disturber of 

 its peace with innocent wonder, hence the name 

 Fool Hen ; but if hunted much it soon becomes 

 " educated " and its habits then are more like 

 those of the Ruffed Grouse under siiuilar condi- 

 tions although it is more likely to take to tall 

 trees. 



There is some mystery about where the Dusky 

 Grouse spends the winter. After the snow is 

 dec]i, however, it is believed that the birds stay 

 day and night in coniferous trees where they find 

 shelter and food aiuong the heavy foliage which, 

 resinous and unpalatable though it is, forms the 

 principal j)art of their sustenance, while the rain 

 and snow falling on the trees give them all the 

 water they need. If this is the case, however, it 

 would be interesting to know how they get gravel 

 to assist in digesting their food or what they sub- 

 stitute for gravel when that is unobtainable. 

 Keen-eyed Indians on snowshoes, in the dead of 

 winter, have little trouble in finding and killing 

 these birds on the trees. Now and then a Grouse 

 flies down to the surface and writes his auto- 

 graph on the snow and they are said to burrow 

 into the drifts as the RufTed Grouse does, and 

 sleep there, but little is known about their winter 

 habits. The Dusky Grouse is a bird that deserves 

 a better acquaintance. It is well worth knowing. 

 Edw.m^d Howe Forbush. 



