546 



GAME BIRDS OF CALIFOENIA 



Two slightly different geographic varieties of Sooty Grouse occur 

 ill California. One, the true Sooty, is restricted to the semi-humid 

 northwestern corner of the state east to central Trinity County and 

 south certainly not farther than Sonoma County near the mouth of 

 the Russian River. The other, and by far the better known race, is 

 the Sierra Grouse, which ranges from Mount Shasta on the north, 

 south along the inner coast ranges to Lake County and along the 

 whole of the Sierra Nevada to Mount Finos, Ventura County; east- 

 wardly, detached colonies are also found on the Warner Mountains, 

 Modoc County, and on the White Mountains, Inyo County. The 

 differences between these two forms are but slight, and are indicated 

 in the account of the Sooty Grouse (p. 552). Because of its wider 

 and more accessible range and also because practically all the inform- 



14076 ^-^^*--«^««^<^ 



Fig. 85. Side of tarsus and foot of Sierra Grouse. Natural size. 

 Note stout toes and claws and presence of feathering on tarsus (com- 

 pare with fig. 83). 



ation we have concerns it, the Sierra Grouse alone is the subject of 

 the following account. 



The Sierra Grouse has been called by a variety of names. Blue 

 Grouse, Sooty Grouse, and Dusky Grouse all refer to the dark tone 

 of its coloration (pi. 15) as compared with our other species, while 

 the name Pine Grouse suggests the nature of its preferred habitat. 

 Since throughout much of the Sierra Nevada it is the only species 

 of grouse, hunters there designate it simply as Grouse. In the moun- 

 tainous districts of California such accepted place names as Grouse 

 Creek or Grouse Lake occur no less than eight times — a tribute to 

 the prominence of this game bird in the minds of the people. 



The metropolis of the Sierra Grouse is to be found in the upper 

 part of the mountain coniferous belt (Canadian zone) among the 

 lodgepole and Jeffrey pines and red firs, but the species also occurs 

 rather sparingly, just after the breeding season, still higher up towards 

 timber line, among the mountain and foxtail pines and alpine hem- 

 locks (Iludsonian zone). In autumn it may range to the extreme 



