578 THE FRANKLIN GROUSE. 



great ccicrilN-. l)iit also to liide in the tree-tops. S(|uatting and freezing so per- 

 fectl}" that it recjuires a practiced eye to detect it. The huhans used to be 

 very successfu! on the still-hunl. especially in winter, when the birds keep 

 altogether to the tree-tops, spending the season in a semi-lethargic state, 

 feeding exclusively upon fir buds. 



Tlie flesh of the Sooty Grouse , altho counting as dark meat, offers excel- 

 lent eating in the proper season. The bird attains a goodly size, three, four, 

 or even five ])ounds in the case of a cock, and there is no reason to sui>pose 

 that the supply would not last for several tlecades yet, if shot under ])roper 

 restrictions as to quantity and season. As matter of fact, however, four-tifths 

 of the birds already killed in this State have been slaughtered by campers and 

 prospectors in the summer months. The relative abundance of the Sooty 

 Grouse has been correspondingly reduced, and unless our citizens take a saner 

 view of their pri\ileges. the most \'aluable of our game Ijirds will iiltimatel_\- 

 become a tradition. 



No. 232. 



FRANKLIN'S GROUSE. 



A. O. V, No. 299. Canachites franklinii (Dougl.). 



Synonyms. — Franklin's Stki/ck ('.Rnrsi:. Fool Hex. Blue Grouse. 

 TvEE Grouse. Mouxtaix Grouse. Wood Grouse. 



Description. — Somewhat as in foregoing, but lighter, and plumage more 

 varied; upper taii-coverts strikingly banded black-and white. Adult male: .Above 

 finely varied black and grayish in transverse pattern ; below chiefly black, throat 

 sharply bordered on sides by crescentic white stripe, feathers of breast and sides 

 tipped with white marks of increasing size posteriorly ; flanks color of back with 

 sharp wedgc-shaiiefl white marks; tail uniformly black or narrowly tipped with 

 white; ujjpcr tail-coverts black broadly tip])ed with white, the lower tail-coverts 

 still more extensively white ; a touch of white on lore ; naked skin over eye orange. 

 In certain specimens the black of breast is cut off from throat by invasion of gray, 

 and correspondingly restricted below, .■hiiilf jciiialc: .Above chiefly black but 

 highly varied by transverse bars and skirtings of gray and ochraceous or bufi^y; 

 below chiefly whitish or tinged with ochraceous on breast and sides and barred 

 with black ; feathers of flanks and scapulars broadly streaked centrally with wliite ; 

 tail black with white tip (much broader than in male). I^ength of adult: 15.00- 

 17.00 (381-431.8) ; wing 7.00 ( 177.9) : tail 5.30 ( 139.7). 



Recognition Marks. — Small crow size, luottled black and gray above; below 

 black (in male 1 sharply marked and defined by white; upper tail-coverts con- 

 s])icuonslv Ijanded ])lack-and-white. 



Nesting. — Nest: Much as in preceding. Eggs: 8-14, creamy buft' to pale 



