THE DUSKY GROUSE. 



NDER various names, as Blue 

 Grouse, Grey Grouse, Moun- 

 ds tain Grouse, Pine Grouse, 

 and Fool-hen, this 

 species, which is one 

 of the finest birds of its family, is 

 geographically distributed chiefly 

 throughout the wooded and especially 

 the evergreen regions of the Rocky 

 Mountains to the Pacific and north- 

 ward into British America. In the 

 mountains of Colorado Grouse is 

 found on the border of timber line, 

 according to Davie, throughout the 

 year, going above in the fall for its 

 principal food — grasshoppers. In sum- 

 mer its flesh is said to be excellent, 

 but when frost has cut short its diet 

 of insects and berries it feeds on 

 spruce needles and its flesh acquires a 

 strong flavor. Its food and habits are 

 similar to those of the Ruffed Grouse. 

 Its food consists of insects and the 

 berries and seeds of the pine cone, the 

 leaves of the pines, and the buds of trees. 

 It has also the same habits of budding 

 in the trees during deep snows. In the 

 Blue Grouse, however, this habit of 

 remaining and feeding in the trees 

 is more decided and constant, and in 

 winter they will fly from tree to tree, 

 and often are plenty in the pines, 

 when not a track can be found in the 

 snow. It takes keen and practiced eyes 

 to find them in the thick branches of 

 the pines. They do not squat and lie 

 closely on a limb like a quail, but 

 stand up, perfectly still, and would 

 readily be taken for a knot or a broken 

 limb. If they move at all it is to take 

 flight, and with a sudden whir they 

 are away, and must be looked for in 

 in another tree top. 



Hallock says that in common with 

 the Ruffed Grouse (see Birds, Vol. I, 

 p. 220), the packs have a habit of 



scattering in winter, two or three, or 

 even a single bird, being often found 

 with no others in the vicinity, their 

 habit of feeding in the trees tending 

 to separate them. 



The size of the Dusky Grouse is 

 nearly twice that of the Ruffed Grouse, 

 a full-grown bird weighing from three 

 to four pounds. The feathers are very 

 thick, and it seems fitly dressed to 

 endure the vigor of its habitat, which 

 is in the Rocky Mountains and Sierra 

 Nevada country only, and in the pine 

 forests from five to ten thousand feet 

 above the level of the sea. The latter 

 height is generally about the snow 

 line in these regions. Although the 

 weather in the mountains is often 

 mild and pleasant in winter, and 

 especially healthy and agreeable from 

 the dryness and purity of the atmos- 

 phere, yet the cold is sometimes 

 intense. 



Some years ago Mr. Hallock advised 

 that the acclimation of this beautiful 

 bird be tested in the pine forests of the 

 east. Though too wild and shy, he 

 said, to be domesticated, there is no 

 reason why it might not live and 

 thrive in any pine lands where the 

 Ruffed Grouse is found. Since the 

 mountain passes are becoming threaded 

 with railroads, and miners, herders, 

 and other settlers are scattering 

 through the country, it will be far 

 easier than it has been to secure and 

 transport live birds or their eggs, and 

 it is to be hoped the experiment will 

 be tried. 



This Grouse nests on the ground, 

 often under shelter of a hollow log or 

 projecting rock, with merely a few pine 

 needles scratched together. From eight 

 to fifteen eggs are laid, of buff or cream 

 color, marked all over with round 

 spots of umber-brown. 



150 



