THE FRANKLIN GROUSE. 



S8i 



Columbia, and is said^ — 111)011 wliat authority I do not know — to extend west- 

 ward to include the coast ranges of Oregon and Washington. I have sh(_>t it 

 in late summer in the mountains of Yakima Count}', and in the upper Stehekin 

 Valley in Chelan County. In the summer nf 1908 I heard notes on Mijunt 

 Rainier which I have been attributing to this bird, but it was neither seen nor 

 heard on a trip thru the 01}'mpics in the summer of 1890. 



Be that as it may, it is certain tliat Franklin's Grouse enjoys a general 

 distribution at the higher levels of the central ridge of the Cascade range, and 

 that it extends at least as far south as the Natchez Pass, probably further. 

 From its unsophisticated wa_\'s it has long been known to prospectors and tim- 

 ber cruisers by the name "fool hen." If discovered feeding in the trail, a 

 little company of them will merely step aside to let the ca\'alcade pass, or else 

 post in the nearest trees and bushes. Missiles have only a curious interest 

 until a bird is struck, and several of the flock may be shot at leisure without 

 the remainder being frightened 

 away. 



The general economy of the 

 Franklin Grouse is much that of 

 the Sooty (D. 0. fiiliginosiis). 

 They range quite to timber-line. 

 They subsist largely upon browse, 

 preferring to other the buds and 

 needles of coniferous trees, but 

 they also descend in summer to 

 gather berries of various sorts, 

 and ground-fare. They appear 

 to be strictly resident wherever 

 found, and spend the winter sea- 

 son in the depths of the fir trees. 



The male of the Franklin 

 Grouse is saiil to drum in the 

 spring after a unique fashion. The 

 bird beats his wings rapidly in 

 mid-air while he sinks slowly 

 from some elevated station to the 



ground. Or, again, he rises as he rolls his reverberant thunder, and only 

 ceases when his former perch is reached. He has also various strutting antics, 

 including a distension of the red eyebrows until they nearly meet o\"er the 

 crown. The tail is spread to the utmost, then alternately half furled, first on 

 one side and then on the other with a peculiar, silken, rustling sound. The 



TcU-l>hoto by IC. H. If right. 

 FR.\NKLI.\ GROUSir, M.\LE. 



a. A. O. U. Check List, -d Ed., 



