THE MUSEUM. 



■more different groups or strata. I be- 

 lieve that on the west side of the 

 creek, directly opposite the village of 

 Schoharie, nearly, if not all of the 

 above strata can be easily reached by 

 the geologist. 



Amsterdam, N. Y. , Nov., 1896. 



Notes on Grouse found in Okano- 

 gan County, Wis. 



BY WM. L. DAWSON. 



Sooty Grouse, Dcndragapus ob- 

 scunis fiiliginosHS. The spring bird 

 of the lower foot-hills. They appear 

 to move down from their winter home 

 in the fir trees of the higher slopes, 

 during the last week of March. At 

 this time, and, indeed, until after the 

 breeding season, they are quite unwary. 

 The males, especially, appear so en- 

 grossed in their sole occupation of hoot- 

 ing, that they may be easily approach- 

 ed, and studied at close range — say 

 thirty feet, if one is lying on the ground. 

 One such I spied on the first day of 

 April, 1896. He was on a ridge about 

 a hundred yards away, strutting and 

 parading like a turkey cock, in plain 

 view. As I sneaked up within a few 

 yards of him, he became more sub- 

 dued, and stood, for the most part, 

 quietly in the grass, with his neck in- 

 flated like a pouter pigeon's. One 

 could see the volume of air, alternate- 

 ly increase and diminish as he gave his 

 mutfled "Hoot, hoot, hoot, tu-hoot, 

 tu-hoot." This was not necessarily 

 accompanied by any show of neck or- 

 naments, but when he became vehem- 

 ent, as when he spread his fan-shaped 

 black tail for a strut, the inflation of 

 the throat increased to such an extent 

 as to disclose a considerable bare spot 

 on each side of his neck, surrounded 

 by a large ring of feathers. This cer- 

 tainly made a stunning feature of the 

 gallant's attire; for nature has provid- 

 ed that the feathers immediately about 

 the bare spot shall have entensive bas- 

 es below the sooty tips. Ordinarily 

 the upper feathers completely conceal 

 the bald spot, of which the fellow is 



so vain, so that during excitement, a 

 brilliant, white circlet of feathers some 

 five inches across, flashes forth from 

 each side of the bird's neck, as the up- 

 per feathers are raised and reversed, 

 When I tired of studying his vanity, I 

 mocked his hoot repeatedly; he low- 

 ed his head with some show of hostili- 

 ty, but did not attack. 



While this was going on another 

 cock was to be heard at some distance 

 and his calls were apparently being 

 answered by a low monosyllabic ''toot'\ 

 of the hen. This cry was repeated at 

 somewhat greater intervals than those 

 of the cock. Of course the hooting 

 sound is made in the wind pipe, but 

 the inflated throat acts as a sounding- 

 board. The large, triangular syrinx 

 could De made to give forth a sound 

 very much resembling the bird's efforts, 

 by simply blowing at the proper inter- 

 vals through the entering windpipe, 

 and placing the thumb and fore-finger 

 partly o\er the aperture. 



A set of eight eggs of this species 

 was discovered on May 5th, by Mrs. 

 W. L. Dawson, and their situation is 

 described as follows: The eggs were 

 deposited on the ground beneath a 

 service-berry bush, which sprang from 

 a chance level spot on an otherwise 

 sharp hillside. There had been no 

 apparent attempt at nest building, as 

 the eggs lay upon nothing but the few 

 fallen leaves of the bush, and these 

 had not even been scratched together. 

 The. only cover afforded the bird was 

 the general protection of the tall bush. 

 The eggs were of characteristic t\pe, 

 except that they were unusually small. 

 Three specimens measured 1.72x1.28, 

 1.78x1.30, and 1.78x1.33. 



When the young are nearly full 

 grown, the flock begins to retire slow- 

 ly up the mountain sides, until by the 

 middle of fall they are to be found on- 

 ly on the higher ridges. Those, how- 

 ever whose winter homes are in the 

 highest western ranges, do not seem 

 to' have so much latitude of movement. 

 On August 5th, I encountered a brood 

 of full grown young on Wright's Peak, 



